Gold and Silver
by Danistal12
Summary: Paige is a 9 time Olympic Gold Medalist and a Silver medalist who has moved back to Rosewood as she was forced to retire early in her career due to injury. Emily moved to Rosewood at the start of high school and is now fresh out of law school, just starting a job under Veronica Hastings. What happens when these two meet and find out they have more in common than they thought? Paily
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! So this is my first fic back in a while and this is the first thing that i thought could possibly worth putting up here. I have other stories under the username Tomwillisrulz but i thought it was time to start fresh. I know it's not amazing or anything but it's another Paily fix to read (I can't get enough of them) while we wait for Paige to be back on PLL! **

**Anyway, hopefully there will be a little interest in this story because I'm having some fun writing it. Please read and leave a review if you like it and tell me what you would want to happen in this story and I'll see where i can go with that. **

**Dani :)**

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Paige McCullers was the best.

She was the best of the very best.

At least that's what her Olympic gold medals told herself and the rest of the world. She had competed in the 2012 London Olympics but was forced to retire the following year due to injury but she was still at the top of her game and only 24.

She had been listed as an emergency swimmer in the 2008 Beijing games but she wasn't needed that year so she had barely missed out. Paige used that disappointment and that hunger to push herself further than she had ever gone before. National trials had been a breeze for her, she was setting new national records in pretty much every race she was swimming with automatic selection practically being handed to her. She had taken on different distances, strokesand had secured the anchor position in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay and the 4 x 100 medally.

When it came to the London Olympics, she was certainly the favourite to win her races but she was also a crowd favourite. The nation had fallen in love with her because she was the perfect picture of the All American girl next door but that changed when she publically decided to come out as gay to prove to younger people that it does get better and that being gay didn't make them different to anyone else. She was criticized a lot for what she did but she was also praised by most for her bravery and fearlessness. The country really got behind her when it was time for her to race, even carrying an injury midway through the Olympics didn't stop her from achieving the almost unachievable.

After her surgery, Paige decided that seeing as she could no longer race; she would try and coach swimming, so she could help others like her coach had helped her. Everyone wanted her; universities, Ivy League schools, international schools but she decided it would be best for her to return to her hometown of Rosewood and coach at the local swimming school and a part time coach at the high school. She knew that she could have been in a bigger place building her name as a coach but she was still young, she had more than enough money with sponsorships and appearances she was still making and she wanted to come home for a while. Her plan was eventually to move to New York and continue coaching there but home was where she wanted to be for now. The owner of the swim school was an old friend of Paige's so she knew she only had one choice.

It was the end of her first week at the swim school and she had been taking a swimming class younger kids, something that she had always enjoyed doing when she would make appearances. The swim school was abuzz with having the Olympic Gold Medalist at their humble aquatics centre, it had certainly boosted the business of the school and the amount of kids that had signed up for classes.

She walked into the swim school on a Friday morning, the smell of chlorine filling her nose which was something that Paige grew up with and she loved it, it was second nature to her.

"McCullers!" She heard her boss call out and she turned around quickly, startled by the voice

"Hey Jason" Paige replied as she covered her fright

"I know you were only dropping in today to get your pay cheque but do you want to be employee of the month and run a class?" He asked

"For today?" Paige asked

"Every Friday" Jason admitted but began speaking quickly again before Paige could interrupt "I know it was your day off and you have to go to the Sharks meet this afternoon but Danny left this morning and you'll have plenty of time to get to the meet after"

"He left?" Paige asked curiously

"Yeah, he decided to go to the swimming school in Brookhaven" Jason said "They're paying him much more than I can afford right now. I've been running around all day and…"

"It's fine Jason, I can do it" Paige replied nodding "I'll just go out to my car and get my things"

"Thank you" Jason said "Employee of the month"

"I've been here a week" Paige said over her shoulder as she began to make her way to the car

"I don't care" Jason called after her

Paige grabbed her bag from her car and with a quick change she was ready to teach her new class. Paige paused for a moment when she saw a little boy come inside the centre with a woman who was just stunning, that was the only way she could explain it and that didn't seem to do her any justice. She found herself having one of those slow motion moments where no one else was around and she could only look at this olive skinned beauty. Paige had seen a lot of beautiful girls in her life but this girl was breathtaking. Her olive skin complimented her dark hair and deep brown eyes. Her body was toned and fit and her features were soft and welcoming.

Paige pulled herself out of a daydream when she felt Jason push her forward slightly towards the little boy and the beauty.

"You don't look like a Daniel to me" The girl said with a smile

"No ma'am" Paige answered politely "I'm"

"Paige McCullers" She spoke before Paige could finish "I know"

"Right, I forget that people tend to know that around here" Paige said shyly

"You're an Olympic champion" She replied

"I'm just a swim coach here" Paige shrugged with a small smile appearing in the corners of her mouth before she turned her attention to the little boy who was now next to her"Which brings me to my next point, who might you be little man?"

"Braxton" He said with a toothy smile

"Well Braxton, my name is Paige and I will be your swim teacher from now on" Paige said with a smile "Better get you into the pool with the other kids so we can start huh?"

Braxton nodded enthusiastically and he made his way to the side of the pool

Paige turned back to the woman and she smiled briefly before making her way to the pool and jumping in.

Once the lesson was done Paige said goodbye to all of the kids while Braxton was over with the mystery woman.

"Say thank you to Miss McCullers for today" She said politely

"Thank you" Braxton said sweetly

"No problem" Paige replied

"Daddy!" Braxton called out and Paige looked towards the entrance to see a young man with shoulder length hair and a broad smile on his face.

Paige's heart sunk.

She didn't even know who this girl was but she was, for some reason, disappointed that she had a husband or boyfriend or whatever he was to her. The bottom line was, her child had a father that was still around and they looked pretty friendly.

Braxton had made his way to his father but she found the woman still standing next to her when she turned back towards the pool.

"He's a good kid" Paige replied

"I'm Emily by the way" She said quickly with a smile

"It's a pleasure to meet you Emily" Paige nodded

"You too" Emily replied "I just thought it was rude and unfair before that I didn't tell you my name when I knew yours"

"It's fine" Paige said shrugging "It was nice to meet you, I've got to go, the sharks have a swim meet this afternoon that I have to get ready for"

"Oh, okay" Emily replied "Well I'm bringing Braxton next week so I'll see you next Friday then"

"You will" Paige replied with a small smile

Paige watched as Emily left with the Braxton and his father and she turned to see Jason leaning against the pole

"What?" Paige asked

"You always were a sucker for the pretty girl" Jason said

"Yeah well she has a kid and a guy" Paige sighed "Just typical"

Paige walked away with another sigh before she made her way to Rosewood high to hopefully coach the sharks closer to a state championship.

"You're late" She heard from behind her and Paige smiled

"I know, Jason suckered me into teaching this afternoon" Paige said as she turned to see her friend Spencer who was standing with her hands on her hips

Spencer was childhood friend, who knew her the most out of anyone in the world because Paige was practically a Hasting based on how much time she had spent with that family. Spencer was also coaching the Rosewood hockey team and Paige was friends with another Rosewood resident, Aria Montgomery who was a Maths teacher at the school.

"Aria and I were waiting for you" Spencer said

"I know, sorry" Paige said "I'm here now"

"And?" Spencer raised her eyebrow

"Um go Sharks?" Paige asked hopefully

"Exactly!" Spencer said "Come on!"

Emily stopped the car and got out with Caleb and Braxton before they made their way into the house where her friend Hanna was waiting.

"Momma!" Braxton exclaimed as he saw Hanna and Emily smiled

"Hey little guy!" Hanna smiled and she swooped her son up in a hug

"What about me?" Caleb asked

"Come here" Hanna said and she waited for Caleb to join the embrace "Em, you want in?"

"No thanks" Emily laughed "How was New York?"

"Fine as per usual on a Friday" Hanna replied "Next week I'm home though so I can take Braxton to swimming. You're free Em"

"Oh, I wouldn't mind" Emily said

"Really?" Hanna raised her eyebrow

"It was fun" Emily said shrugging

"And Paige McCullers is Braxton's teacher" Caleb said as he pulled away from Hanna finally

"Oh" Hanna said raising her eyebrows as she set Braxton down "Really? I thought she would be teaching the older squads"

"I think she just got roped into it" Emily said

"Emily couldn't take her eyes off her" Caleb said with a smirk

"Just how long were you there for?" Emily asked

"Long enough" Caleb replied

"Anyway, she probably thinks Braxton is mine and so are you Caleb" Emily said jokingly

"Which is a perfect reason for me to come by" Hanna said and her eyes widened "And for you to come with! I can be your wing woman. We can score you a hot Olympian, can we? Please?"

"She might be in a relationship" Emily waved Hanna off "I mean how can she be single?"

"She's single" Hanna scoffed nodding "She's got to be, I mean she's an Olympian, not just any lesbian would be good enough for her"

"Hanna" Emily said shaking her head

"You're different though" Hanna said holding her hands out defensively to her friend "But I'm pretty sure she is, I read an article about her and she didn't mention anything about a girlfriend"

"Well it must be true then, she's single" Caleb commented rolling his eyes "Come on Brax, we'll get you ready for dinner"

When Braxton and Caleb made their way up the stairs, Hanna took a step closer to Emily

"You know it will be good to get out there again" Hanna said quietly "You can't be hung up over Samara forever"  
"I'm not hung up over her, she just broke my heart" Emily defended "That takes some time"

"I know, which is why we need to move onto bigger and better things" Hanna said "Like an Olympian"

"We?" Emily paused

"I live and love vicariously through you now" Hanna said jokingly "Em, I love you. I just want you to be happy"

"I'm happy" Emily retorted

"I want you to be happier" Hanna said "And you could be happier"

"Thanks" Emily said quietly

"You staying for dinner?" Hanna asked

"It's okay, I've got to go have dinner with my Mom" Emily said

"On a Friday night?" Hanna asked

"I haven't caught up with her in a while, work has been too busy" Emily shrugged

"Things at the law firm haven't calmed down?" Hanna asked

"No and I can't expect them to" Emily said "I'm fresh out of law school and everyone is passing their unwanted jobs and I have to take them"

"I told you that I would give you a job at the magazine" Hanna said "Your style is perfect"

"I didn't spend 7 years in hell to go to a magazine" Emily said "No offence"

"Some taken" Hanna said furrowing her eyebrow

"I'll call you tomorrow" Emily said nodding

"Thanks for taking Braxton" Hanna said

"Any time" Emily nodded

"So, next Friday?" Hanna asked hopefully

"Maybe" Emily said laughing quietly

Next Friday came pretty quickly and Paige made sure she was early for her class.

She had been thinking about Emily all week and she wasn't too sure how to get the girl out of her head.

She knew that Emily was off limits, she had a man and a child but Paige couldn't help herself, she was drop dead gorgeous and she seemed so sweet.

She cursed the fact that the cliché of all the good ones being taken was generally true.

She pulled out the kickboards for the kids and set up her area when she saw Emily walk into the complex with a blonde woman, the same age as Emily she guessed.

Emily was dressed simply in a yellow shirt that sat just off her shoulders and jeans while the blonde woman looked like she was about to step onto the catwalk. Braxton and his father followed them closely as the blonde made a beeline for the bleachers, pulling Emily with her.

Paige caught Emily's eye for a moment and Emily smiled, giving Paige a wave.

Paige mouthed 'hi' and she continued to set up her area though she felt eyes burning through her back. Braxton soon came over to Paige with his same toothy smile.

"Hey buddy" Paige greeted as she squatted down to be eye level with Braxton

"Hi" He greeted happily

"You ready for our lesson?" Paige smiled

"Yes" Braxton replied "What are we doing today?"

"Kickboard" Paige grinned "I used to love doing that when I was your age"

"Cool" Braxton replied carelessly

Paige chuckled and she looked over to Emily, the blonde woman and Braxton's father who were talking quietly to each other

"Should be interesting" Paige mumbled to herself

The kids all arrived at the pool on time and Paige took them through their hour session with ease, she was a natural with the kids and everyone noticed. Once the session was finished and the kids were out of the pool, Paige began to count and collect all of the kickboards to put them away.

"You're missing one" She heard a voice behind her

Paige swiftly turned around after jumping slightly to see the blonde woman as she pulled Emily behind her

"Sorry?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows innocently

"Brax took his with him with Caleb" Hanna said "That probably runs in the DNA unfortunately, you can blame me for that"

"Oh, that's okay. I'll get it from him when he comes out" Paige shrugged

"You know, why don't I go check on my _**son**_and _**Husband**_just to make sure they bring that board back for you" Hanna said before she squealed quietly yet not subtly at all, which wasn't missed by Paige or Emily before she left

"She your friend?" Paige asked chuckling

"Just call her Hurricane Hanna" Emily said rolling her eyes "She's good at leaving a trail of destruction"

"So that's Braxton's mom then?" Paige voiced her thoughts aloud

"You thought he was mine, didn't you?" Emily asked with a small smirk

"I wasn't sure" Paige began "Well yeah. He's a cute kid"

"I'm his God mother" Emily shrugged "Hanna is usually away for work on Friday's but she was free today"

"And you came with anyway?" Paige asked

"Brax asked me too" Emily said quickly

Paige smiled to herself and reminded herself to thank Braxton later

"Well it's good to see you again" Paige shrugged "I've seen you around a little but I haven't had the chance to say hello"

"Well next time make sure you do" Emily replied quietly

"I will" Paige nodded and she looked down at her feet shyly

"Are you settling back into Rosewood okay?" Emily asked

"Yeah, I think so" Paige said looking up to Emily again, pausing as their eyes met again "I always forget what a small town it is"

"I know" Emily said nodding "Everyone knows everyone"

"Well hopefully I can get to know some people better" Paige said subtly but Emily knew what she meant without her having to try too hard

"Hopefully" Emily agreed

"Here you go" Braxton said, looking up to Paige holding up the kickboard

"Thank you kind sir" Paige replied taking the board "Have a good weekend, okay?"

"I will" Braxton replied happily

"Em, we're going to the car" Hanna said "Take your time, we're in no hurry at all"

"I should get going" Emily nodded quickly "But it was great seeing you again"

"Yeah, you too" Paige agreed

"Yell out to me if you see me out" Emily replied "I would love to bump into you"

"Bye Emily" Paige said

"Good bye Paige" Emily replied

After a moments pause, Emily turned on her heal and rushed out of the complex behind Hanna, Caleb and Braxton.

"Someone is happy" Jason said as he picked up the kickboards

"I was going to do that" Paige said quickly

"I know, I'm just helping" Jason shrugged "How is Miss Fields?"

"Who?" Paige asked

"Emily Fields" Jason elaborated "You know, the girl you were drooling over"

"Oh…good…great even" Paige said a little too dreamily

"Okay" Jason said furrowing his eyebrows, taking the kickboards to the back room

Paige sighed, shaking her head as she followed Jason out with the kickboards.

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**Hope you liked it! Please review and let me know your thoughts :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Back with chapter 2! Thanks so much for the reviews, I really appreciate them! I'm glad you guys are liking it so far. I will be trying to update this story as often as possible!**

**I usually respond to all the reviews i get but i can't do that for guest reviewers so for the 4 guest reviewers, much appreciated! :)**

**Happy Friday everyone! (Friday here right now anyway)**

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Friday night was a good night for Paige, the sharks had won their meet in the afternoon and after the meet Paige caught up with Spencer and Aria and told them all

about her meeting with Emily.

"So you thought that she had a kid?" Spencer asked chuckling

"Well I don't know" Paige shrugged "She brought a kid with her so I assumed Braxton was hers"

"Did it occur to you that Braxton looks nothing like Emily?" Spencer asked with a smug look on her face that only Spencer Hastings could pull off

"Well no but I wasn't really thinking about that" Paige protested

"And what were you thinking about?" Aria poked playfully

"Not much was functioning up here when I saw her" Paige said pointing to her brain "I kind of just froze and muttered whatever I could manage"

"You could have just asked" Spencer replied

"I didn't know that you knew" Paige shook her head

"Everyone knows everything here" Aria said looking to Spencer "It's hard to keep a secret in Rosewood"

"I'll remember that" Paige chuckled

"Hey I'm having a bonfire tomorrow night out at the lake house, come" Spencer said

"Not…not really my scene, I don't know many people anyway" Paige hesitated as she scratched her head lightly

"You're coming, it'll be a way you can get to know people" Aria replied

"I don't know" Paige shook her head

Saturday had been a pretty tame day for Paige, she went out for her usual run which was longer than she had intended but she felt good and had gotten carried away

with her distance which made her afternoon swim a little difficult but she managed. She was beginning to settle into her house and it was starting to feel like she was

at home.

She was sitting at home, watching TV when her phone vibrated, it was a text from Spencer

_Get off your couch and come to the lake house – Spencer_

_How did you know I was on my couch? – Paige_

_I know you – Spencer_

The thing about Paige was that even though she was pretty famous and even though she had received media training to no end, she hated it and she was never good

at meeting new people and making new friends. She was as shy as the day she left Rosewood as a young teen so Spencer knew she had to take her out of her

comfort zone in order for her to grow and settle back into Rosewood.

She decided she would take a risk and go to the lake house so she raced upstairs to change into a simple flannel, jeans and beanie, taking a jacket if need be for later

in the night. When she arrived at Spencers cabin just outside Rosewood, she already saw quite a few cars there and she could hear music playing and laughter. Paige

took a deep breath and she began making her way into the house. Her hands playing with each other awkwardly as she walked into the cabin, not seeing anyone she

was familiar with but seeing strangers looking right back at her.

There were a few people getting drinks and sitting on the couch inside the cabin, who she greeted politely but shyly with a small smile and continued straight on

through. She removed her shoes as her feet touched the sand out the back of the cabin, the laughter and talking got louder as she reached the large group of people

who were sitting around the fire happily.

"Paige!" Aria greeted happily as she saw her friend arrive

"Hey Aria" Paige greeted the shorter girl with a smile

"Find the place okay?" Aria asked

"Yeah, fine" Paige said nodding as she looked around at the group

"Everyone this is Paige" Aria announced and Paige received a group hello from everyone sitting around the fire "Spence is around here somewhere"

"That's cool, I'll just sit down somewhere" Paige said looking around for an available spot "You know, do the whole making new friends thing"

"I'll be here if you need me" Aria chuckled

Paige went to a free spot next to the fire and grabbed herself a cup but decided to stick with water, she wasn't one to drink and she never had been thanks to her

background in professional sports, she thought it would be better for her to steer clear from alcohol even though she was retired.

"You're drinking the heavy stuff" She heard a newly family voice say with a smile evident in her voice

Paige looked up to see Emily standing next to her with a small smirk on her face

"Emily" Paige said surprised as she eyed the girl next to her

"Mind if I join you?" Emily asked

"Of course" Paige nodded quickly, shuffling over to make room for Emily to sit next to her

"We bumped into each other sooner than I thought" Emily said taking the seat next to Paige

"What are you doing here?" Paige asked curiously

"I went to High School with Spencer" Emily shrugged "Work for her mom too"

"So we must have just missed each other" Paige nodded "I left before high school"

"I was wondering about that" Emily replied "I was also wondering if I would see you here, I'm glad you came"

"Yeah" Paige nodded with a small smile "I figured I should start being social in Rosewood now that I'm back…I wasn't going to come but I wasn't doing anything so…"

"Why are you back?" Emily asked leaning forward slightly "If you don't mind me asking"

"No it's fine" Paige shrugged "It's nothing interesting really, I just decided that I wanted to come back for a bit where I could just relax and be normal for a while. I just

wanted to take a small swimming job while I took a little break. I want to move again eventually to take up coaching professionally but I figured I deserved a bit of a

break"

"Water is a break?" Emily asked pointing to her cup

"I don't drink, personal choice" Paige said simply as she looked down to her cup with a sheepish smile

"Well you're better than all us" Emily joked "I think it's good"

"I don't judge" Paige replied "I mean, I'm a little jealous"

"How so?" Emily asked as she scooted a little closer to Paige to accommodate someone joining the circle of people

"Well everyone just seems to be able to have fun effortlessly" Paige looked around at the people her age laughing and having a great time and she paused for a

moment before she continued "I'm not good with new people, I can't just make friends like people our age are supposed to"

"You seem fine to me" Emily smiled

"I'm having a good day then" Paige laughed quietly to herself

"You seem like a pretty confident person to me" Emily said nodding

"Well I'm not" Paige shook her head looking towards the fire before she looked to Emily again "No amount of media training and personal relations courses could get

me as confident as I would like to be, I was always scared I was going to say something wrong or offend someone accidently"

"So how do you deal with strangers who come up to you and speak to you?" Emily asked curiously

"I try and be as outgoing as possible" Paige shrugged " Besides, now days I have to remind myself that it's okay now to really just enjoy myself. I mean not that I

didn't enjoy myself before but…"

"It's okay; I think I understand what you're trying to say" Emily replied patiently "You just aren't used to being able to let your hair down?"

"Exactly" Paige said with a small smile "Thanks"

"It's okay, I mean maybe it's time to learn that" Emily suggested with a shrug "You have time to do that now, isn't that the whole point of retiring?"

"I know how to have fun, just before I kind of had to think about the consequences" Paige responded "I mean I still do now with sponsors and stuff like that but not

so much"

"I happen to think you'd be very fun" Emily smiled, placing her hand on Paige's shoulder for a moment before placing her hand back in her lap

Paige smiled, feeling a blush creeping up on her cheeks so she looked down to her cup again and then back at Emily who almost impossibly looked even more beautiful

with the flames reflection dancing on her face

"So why did you decide to retire?" Emily continued the conversation "I mean I know you have your injury and everything"

"Well there were a few different reasons" Paige nodded "The injury was the main reason but I'm not getting any younger for one"

"You're my age though right? 25?" Emily asked raising her eyebrow

"Yeah but when it comes to a sport like swimming, that's coming to the end of your peak in your career, depending on who you are of course" Paige shrugged "I've had

a shoulder reconstruction on both shoulders and my right one required further surgery after the Olympics because I tore a muscle during my final. It's a very long way

back from that and besides, the next Olympics is in 4 years, I'd be 29 and I don't think that I would have lasted that long. All that training certainly takes a physical toll

as you get older but because I've been doing it since high school, it's a mental thing too. Plus there's always someone younger coming up to beat you and I think I

could still compete and do well, I think it's best if I leave it now to some younger girls coming through"

"Your last race, the 100m freestyle final was pretty amazing" Emily admitted with a grin

"You watched it?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"I think everyone here did" Emily said "Rosewood was going crazy"

"Ah right, hometown girl comes good" Paige nodded with a smile "Of course"

"You know, I did some swimming in high school so I follow the sport a bit too" Emily said playfully

"I thought that you would have done some kind of sport or swimming at some stage, you have an athlete's body" Paige mentioned quietly but paused when she

realized what she said and what it sounded like

She mentally slapped herself on the forehead for having a typical McCullers foot in mouth moment

"Anyway, you have to go through a lot to come back from that and I think that I have done as well as I can" Paige said very quickly before Emily could catch onto

Paige's embarrassment

"9 Olympic golds and a silver, of course the town is going to go crazy, the whole country went crazy" Emily said "Not to mention all of the other things you've won"

"You been reading my profile?" Paige joked giving Emily a small nudge

"It's common knowledge around here" Emily shook her head with a grin

"It's difficult coming back and everyone knows things about you when you know nothing about them" Paige admitted honestly

"Well they might think they know who you are but they probably don't" Emily shook her head "I mean you aren't what I was expecting"

"Well what exactly were you expecting?" Paige asked

"I don't know, not you though" Emily said honestly "I certainly didn't think you'd be as shy as you are"

"I'll take that as a compliment?" Paige asked unsure

"Oh it is" Emily laughed "Don't worry about that"

"So I've had enough talking about me, I really hate talking about me" Paige said shaking her head "What about you Emily Fields, what do you do?"

"You know my last name" Emily sounded surprised with a small smile

"You know mine so I thought it was only fair" Paige joked "Jason may have mentioned it to me, he owns the swimming school"

"I know Jason" Emily replied "Quite well actually"

"This town gets smaller and smaller with every person I speak to" Paige replied looking towards Aria who was clearly looking at them but she averted her gaze as

soon as Paige's eyes met hers "Anyway, so tell me?"

"I've just started at a law firm a few months ago. Actually Spencer's mom's firm" Emily said "I spent almost 7 years to get there so I'm pretty excited about landing the

job"

"You know, I wouldn't have expected you to be a lawyer" Paige nodded "I'll admit, I'm impressed"

"What did you think I would do?" Emily asked

"I don't know" Paige shrugged adjusting her beanie on her head "You just seem…I don't know, too sweet to be a lawyer"

"Well thank you" Emily smiled "Though I might surprise you"

"What made you put yourself through that?" Paige asked "7 years of school"

"Well, I don't know if this is going in too deep too soon but my friend was murdered when I was younger, Alison. I always wanted to make sure that people who do

things like that spend as much time in prison paying for what they've done as possible" Emily answered honestly

"Wow" Paige furrowed her brow, leaning forward closer to Emily once again "I'm sorry about your friend"

"Oh, no that's okay" Emily said "That's how I know Jason"

"What do you mean?" Paige asked with a confused look on her face

"Alison was Jason's sister" Emily replied "Did you not know that?"

"No…actually" Paige shook her head as she crinkled her face slightly on confusion "He didn't tell me"

"Not many people really talk about it" Emily shook her head "I mean some bad things have happened in Rosewood since I have been here but nothing as bad as

Alison. Maybe don't mention it to him unless he does to you, he kind of took it really hard"

"How could he not have?" Paige replied

"That's how I know Spencer and Aria" Emily said glancing over to the other two girls sitting across the bon fire "We were all friends with Alison"

"You three?" Paige asked

"Plus Hanna as well" Emily nodded

"So you were friends in high school" Paige replied as she thought aloud "Why aren't you guys all friends now?"

"We are…we just don't talk to each other that often anymore because we all just got older and we had our own lives" Emily shrugged "I mean I still speak to Spencer

and Aria occasionally and I work for Spencer's mom but an event like that, what happened to Alison, changes you and nothing bad happened between all of us, we

just got older. We all just got busy within our own lives too"

"So you're a lawyer, that's pretty cool" Paige said as she was trying to change the subject of what she thought to be a sore subject for Emily

"Well I'm just the person who does the jobs no one wants to do so far" Emily said

"Well if anyone needs suing from me, I'll call you" Paige said shrugging

"In that case, do you want my number?" Emily asked confidently but faltered when she saw Paige pause "In case you need anything…legally I mean"

"Legally?" Paige asked with a smile "I would love that; I'll give you mine too"

"Great" Emily grinned as she pulled out her phone

They swapped numbers silently and handed their phones back to each other

"So you're bringing Braxton again next Friday?" Paige asked hopefully

"I should be" Emily said nodding "I have that time off on a Friday"

"I really thought that Braxton was yours" Paige said shaking her head

"He doesn't look a thing like me" Emily laughed

"I know" Paige shrugged "Though he does look like both Caleb and Hanna so I guess that makes sense"

"He's a good kid" Emily nodded "But I'm certainly not having kids anytime soon" .

"No" Paige laughed and she shook her head again as she looked at the girl sitting next to her who was smiling brightly back towards her.

Emily walked out from the coffee shop after her regular morning coffee on Sunday after her run, looking across the street she spotted Paige running across the road

with her headphones in, concentrating on the road ahead.

Emily smiled to herself as she watched Paige run before she made her way to her car to go to Hanna's so they could go shopping. When she arrived at Hanna's, the

household was in full swing chaos. Braxton was running around madly in his underwear followed by Caleb, clearly trying to get him to go have a shower and be ready

for the day.

"Hanna's in the kitchen" Caleb called as he rushed past Emily on his quest to grab his son

"Thanks" Emily laughed as she heard Braxton running down a hallway

"There you are" Hanna said reaching out to grab Emily "You're late"

"By 5 minutes" Emily said hugging her best friend as she pointed to her watch behind Hanna's back

"I've got to be quick today, we're taking Braxton to see his Grandma this afternoon" Hanna said enthusiastically as if speaking to Braxton himself "But I needed to look

around for work anyway"

"Yeah, sounds good" Emily agreed

Hanna and Emily quickly drove to the mall, shopping with Hanna was always fun, Emily knew that Hanna had a passion for shopping, it was practically her job and Emily

loved clothes as well so they made a good pair together.

"So how was the bonfire last night?" Hanna asked "I kind of wish we could have gone, a Hastings bonfire is always eventful"

"It was good" Emily said as a smile crept up on her lips "Really good"

"Details" Hanna said looked at a shirt on a display wrack

"Paige was there" Emily said honestly

"What?" Hanna asked, her head snapped to Emily's direction "Look at that big smile! You like her!"

"I just met her and I don't know but she seems really nice. We just talked for over an hour, just the two of us and never once did it get awkward…that hasn't

happened to me for so long" Emily said quietly as she looked around the store to see if anyone could hear Hanna's outburst "And she's really shy which is so cute"

"I knew she was single" Hanna said proudly before pointing at Emily "I told you"

"Well, I get the impression that she is" Emily said shrugging "We swapped numbers"

"Em!" Hanna squealed grabbing Emily's arm tightly

"It's nothing to get excited about" Emily said laughing "I said she could have my number in case she has any legal questions"

"Who cares, she has your number" Hanna shrugged "You two would be so cute, you could go swimming together…you could have a cute little family swim team with

matching swimming caps"

"You're getting very ahead of yourself" Emily said with wide eyes

"Have you texted her?" Hanna asked after a moment of looking through some clothes again to calm herself down

"No, I only saw her yesterday" Emily shook her head

"Too early?" Hanna asked

"You know I don't play games like that" Emily said rolling her eyes "I just don't want to bother her, we talked about enough last night so she's probably sick of me"

"She wouldn't have given you her number if you were bothering her" Hanna pointed out with a shrug

"That's true" Emily said nodding

"What did you guys talk about?" Hanna asked "I was hoping she would be there, I knew she was friends with Spencer and Aria"

"And you didn't tell me?" Emily asked with a slight frown

"Didn't think I needed to, I thought that you were happily single" Hanna said smartly "Come on, elaborate"

"Just about why she retired and why she was back here" Emily said "Then we talked about what I did and I told her about my job"

"She didn't fall asleep, did she?" Hanna asked jokingly

"No Han, she was interested" Emily said shaking her head "Unlike some people, she is a good listener"

"I'm happy for you Em" Hanna said "If you like her then you should go for it"

"I need to make sure she wants the same thing first though and I don't even know if I like her, I have met her three times" Emily said "I was thinking about texting her

tonight. I saw her running this morning, I figured maybe we could run together"

"That's a great idea, you like this girl already, I can see it." Hanna said "Can you keep up with her?"

"I think so" Emily replied nodding

"Then go for it" Hanna said

Paige knocked on Spencer's door, looking around the neat yard with a small smile, she had just finished her run so she decided to stop by the Hastings household on

her way home.

"Hey" Spencer said opening the door

"Hey" Paige replied smiling still "How'd you pull up after last night? You didn't do anything too crazy after you left?"

"Fine" Spencer replied "Toby and I packed up pretty quickly, it wasn't too bad"

"You should have let me help" Paige replied

"It's fine, it didn't take long at all" Spencer waved her off "How was your run?"

"Good thanks, I'm feeling good" Paige replied optimistically

"And your shoulder?" Spencer asked

"You know it's fine" Paige nodding "I wouldn't be running if it wasn't okay"

"So you were speaking to Emily for a while last night" Spencer said with a smirk "Something going on there?"

"Nothing is going on" Paige said quickly "She's just been really nice to me since I got here…she treats me like.."

"A normal person?" Spencer asked finishing her friends' sentence

"Yeah" Paige answered "Basically. Everyone is this town knows all about me, she's been the first person in this town who has actually offered me information about

herself, besides everyone I know already"

"She's a sweet girl" Spencer said nodding "She works for my mom now"

"She told me" Paige replied "But you didn't tell me that you guys were friends in high school"

"I was friends with a lot of people in high school. I've got to go visit my mom tomorrow if you wanted to come into the office with me" Spencer said with a grin "You

could have lunch with my mom, she hasn't seen you much since she's been back"

"No it's okay, I don't want to be weird" Paige replied shaking her head "I'll stick with seeing her on Friday, that'll only be like the 4th time I've talked to her"

"Aria said she saw you guys exchanging numbers, have you called her?" Spencer asked leaning against her door

Paige sighed and ran a hand through her hair with a grin

"You mean you two were spying on me?" Paige asked

"No… well maybe a little" Spencer asked and she sighed "We just want you to have someone finally now that you're not in the spotlight so much and you have no

pressure on you. Someone who isn't going to treat you like the last one"

"Emily is gay right?" Paige asked

"Yes" Spencer nodded "Most definitely. In fact I've met a few girls she has dated"

"And she's single?" Paige asked

"Very much so, she has been for a while" Spencer said nodding

"How I don't know" Paige added "How can that girl be single?"

"Well that's a positive for you" Spencer added "If you think you could be with her then you should go for it"

"I don't even know her" Paige said

"No but you can start to try" Spencer said

* * *

**Please review! I love hearing your thoughts. Thanks! Dani :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi all! Hope you're having a good weekend! Thanks for all the reviews! Thank you again for the guest reviewers who leave their feedback! I wish I could reply to you guys in a PM because I appreciate it!**

**So here is chapter 3. I'll need you to just be patient with the next few chapters, I'm just getting the story into a groove so I can move onto the main storyline that i want for this fic.**

**Anyway! I hope you like it :) Please review, I really appreciate when someone take the time out to do that for me :)**

* * *

That night Emily was sitting on her couch by her phone, wondering what to do about contacting Paige, her number was on her screen, waiting to text but she

couldn't bring herself to do it. She had picked it up and placed it back down multiple times but she wasn't sure if she was going to develop the courage to actually

send a message through. She didn't know why but there was something about Paige that she really connected with and she didn't want to make a move too fast

and freak her out. She looked down to her phone again before she took a deep breath.

She had to do it, the only way to see if Paige was the girl she had been waiting for was to get to know her better.

'Hey Paige, It's Emily Fields. Do you start early tomorrow?' – Emily

She hit send without thinking too much more about it and then put her phone back on the couch. She felt as if she had been waiting for hours, she looked to her

phone while she was watching TV and almost jumped when she saw a reply come through. Without wasting a second or taking a breath, she picked up her phone,

unlocking it to see the reply.

'Hey Emily! I knew who it was, we traded numbers remember? Is someone trying to sue me? No early start tomorrow, why do you ask?' – Paige

Emily groaned, of course Paige knew it was her. She was trying to be smooth and she ended up looking like a fool. She shook her head and replied to Paige's

message immediately.

"I saw you running this morning and wondered if you wanted to go for a run with me tomorrow? You don't have too, I was just wondering. I've been needing a

running partner for a while' – Emily

'That sounds great to me, what time were you thinking?' – Paige

'How does 7 sound? We could get coffee after? I only have to be at work at 10 tomorrow' - Emily

So the coffee part hadn't been planned but Emily always did that after her run so she didn't see why not, she thought it could be an even better way to get to

know Paige.

She grinned as she saw Paige's reply come through quickly.

'Sounds perfect. Meet you at the park at 7?' – Paige

'Perfect. Can't wait. Have a great night' – Emily

'Me either, thanks, you too. Good night Emily' – Paige

7am the next morning, true to her word, Paige was waiting in the park for Emily to arrive. She knew she was being ridiculous and she would pay for it later in the

day but she had woken up at 5:30am because she couldn't get back to sleep and had spent half an hour picking what work out gear she was going to wear. She

didn't know why she was being so pedantic about what she was wearing because she knew it was just a run.

Emily was a few minutes late but Paige didn't mind, she was happy sitting in the park as butterflies were multiplying in her stomach. She saw Emily jog her way

over to her a few minutes past 7 with a bright smile on her lips. Her hair was tied back and she looked perfect, even for just a run at 7 in the morning.

"Morning" Paige greeted happily as she stood from the park bench she was sitting on

"Good morning" Emily replied apologetically "Sorry I'm late"

"You're not really, I was just early" Paige shrugged"So where are we running to today?"

"I have a circuit I usually do if you want to follow, it's about 3 miles" Emily said looking out to the park quickly

"Yeah sounds good to me" Paige agreed "Just don't go too hard for me"

"Oh sure" Emily said sarcastically "I'm terrified of how fit you are and how behind I'm going to be"

"Well we'll just run together then" Paige replied with a light shrug "You'd be able to keep up with me, I hope so anyway"

Emily laughed quietly as Paige nudged her gently

"I'm glad you asked me to come running with you" Paige said as she looked to the ground, not being able to contain her smile as she looked down to her shoes

"You are?" Emily asked

"Yeah" Paige said as she looked up to Emily again "Should we get going?"

"Yes, definitely" Emily replied

The run was pretty fast, they were both keeping up with each other though Paige was slowing her pace a little for Emily but mostly Emily was all over it. Paige had

to stop for a moment when her shoulder was giving her a little trouble but Emily was thankful for the break. They reached the end of their run in a record time for

Emily so they walked over to the coffee shop where they sat down with coffee outside.

"You are one hell of a runner" Paige said laughing "Are you sure you didn't go to the Olympics? You really pushed me"

"You were taking it easy on me" Emily said sceptically "You were the one pushing me, that was the quickest time I have done that track in"

"No I wasn't taking it easy on you" Paige said shaking her head "Honestly"

"Well it would be a different story if we were swimming" Emily replied "Then I wouldn't even bother"

"I'm not as fast as I used to be" Paige shook her head

"I bet you are" Emily smiled

"You said you did some competitive swimming in school right?" Paige asked

"And in college" Emily chimed in playfully "Can't forget that"

"Of course, well why don't we go swimming one day?" Paige suggested "I haven't swam for just fun in a little while. See for yourself how fast I am"

"A chance to swim with the Paige McCullers, I would love that, sounds fun to me" Emily said and she paused "But I'm more excited about getting to know just

Paige better"

"Me too" Paige said "Getting to know you that is, I'm glad to meet someone genuine here. Sadly genuine people seem to be difficult to come by these days"

"We'll go swimming" Emily nodded "For sure"

"So you've been here since high school then?" Paige asked

"I have been yeah" Emily replied "You were based in San Francisco?"

"Most of my life really" Paige nodded as she took a sip of her coffee "I'm happy to be back for a while though, I always called Rosewood home"

"I'll bet your parents are as well" Emily said

"Um yeah…" Paige nodded before she quickly changed the subject "So forgive me if I'm asking something I shouldn't and feel free to stop me but how old were you

when your friend was…When she was…"

"Murdered?" Emily asked finishing Paige's sentence that she was seemingly struggling with

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking that" Paige replied shaking her head "forget I asked that"

"No it's okay" Emily shrugged "it's not like I've never talked about it before"

"I know but I don't feel like I've got the right yet to ask that" Paige said

"It's fine" Emily said leaning over and placing her hand on Paige's arm

Paige paused for a moment as she felt Emily's warm, soft hand on her arm before she shook herself out of it and leaned forward to listen to Emily's reply as she

took her hand of Paige again

"Hmm well" Emily cleared her throat from their last interaction "We were 17. She went missing one night and they didn't find her body until a year later, the

investigation took forever and I've never been so scared in my life really, we were all suspects at one time"

"You were a suspect in a murder case?" Paige asked with widened eyes

"Well we were the last people to see Ali" Emily replied "Anyway, they worked out it wasn't us, obviously. It took a long time but we found out who murdered Alison

and reported it to the police"

"Wait, who figured it out?" Paige asked

"Hanna, Aria, Spencer and myself" Emily said

"Spencer or Aria never told me that" Paige replied with a furrowed brow

"And I would appreciate if you didn't tell them I told you. We kind of just agreed to go with the story that the police solved everything" Emily said shaking her head

"She was our friend and the police weren't doing anything"

"How exactly did you find out who it was?" Paige asked

"I'm just going to say that we looked into it and we managed to put enough evidence together after stumbling upon some of Alison's belongings and we took it to

the police" Emily explained "And it wasn't easy because we looked guilty as hell at some points. Just…don't mention this to anyone please"

"Your secret is safe with me" Paige nodded "So why didn't you become a police officer then?"

"Because Spencer's Mom was the one who got him put away" Emily shrugged "If she hadn't had made such an amazing case against him, nothing would have

gone ahead"

"I'm really sorry that you had to go through that" Paige offered "It must have been awful"

"It was" Emily nodded "But things are okay now. Things are great"

"I'm glad" Paige smiled as she looked at her phone for the time "You should probably get going soon huh?"

"Yeah I should actually" Emily said "I kind of wish we could hang out longer though, is that weird?"

"Weird yes because I was thinking the same thing" Paige said playfully "This was a great idea of yours Emily Fields"

"Thanks McCullers and I will hold you to that swim" Emily said

"Name the time and I'll get us some lanes at the aquatic centre" Paige said

"Just don't wipe the floor with me too much" Emily said "Some of us aren't world record and Olympic record holders"

"Who?" Paige asked looking around with a smirk

"Yeah okay Miss America" Emily laughed

"If anyone should be Miss America it should be you" Paige said quietly looking at Emily

Emily blushed, tucking some hair behind her ear, trying not to give her smile away too much

"So what's next for you?" Emily asked "I mean 9 Olympic gold's 1 silver, a bag of other awards including 3 world records and Olympic records, what can you possibly

do now?"

"Whatever life allows me too" Paige said with a smile "Are you sure you haven't been reading my profile?"

"It must be awesome to have achieved all of that" Emily said

"I don't like tooting my own horn but when you say it like that, it sounds pretty cool" Paige said "Sometimes I feel like I've been living a life that was meant for

someone else, sometimes I even feel like I was just watching what happened like on a movie, It sounds crazy"

"It doesn't sound crazy, I can only imagine what it would have been like" Emily said looking around the brew "You're a pretty big deal around here"

"I just forget sometimes that it actually happened but then I remember all of the late nights, hard work and the things I had to miss out on and it doesn't even

matter anymore" Paige smiled "It was certainly worth all of that"

"I don't know how you were so disciplined" Emily said shaking her head

"It was difficult sometimes" Paige replied "A lot of the time actually"

"You're really humble" Emily said

"I've been around a lot of people who are very self-important" Paige said shaking her head "I never want to be like that, I hate that"

"I haven't known you for long but I don't think you could be" Emily replied "I hate to do this but I have to get home and ready for work"

"Yeah of course" Paige said as she stood up from her chair as Emily did "Well thank you for this morning"

"Thank you for keeping me company" Emily said smiling "Are you free tomorrow for a run?"

"Tomorrow morning I have to take the squad training for the Sharks early" Paige said shaking her head slowly "Sorry, it's like that for the rest of the week before

the big meet next week"

"No that's okay" Emily replied with a small smile "You're in demand"

"Not really, text me when you're free next for a run" Paige said "Or just whenever, I had fun"

"I will, I did too" Emily agreed "I'll see you Friday then"

"You will" Paige said smiling

Emily smiled at Paige once more before she hesitantly walked away the brew towards her car. Paige sat back down and leaned back into her chair with a smile while

she looked around the street at the small town that she was learning to love again. Coming to Rosewood wasn't a bad idea after all she thought, maybe she

came back for more than just a coaching job.

The week went quickly and Paige was looking forward to Friday morning more and more with every day that came. They had been texting a little bit for the week

just about small things and arranging their next run but otherwise they hadn't seen each other since Monday morning.

She turned up for work in the morning, with a spring in her step and butterflies in her stomach, which she found strange because she was simply there to teach

but the fact that Emily would be there made her nervous.

Her class arrived one by one but she noticed quickly that she hadn't seen Braxton arrive and she certainly hadn't seen any sign of Emily around the centre so she

kind of wondered what was going on. She was due to start the class and she couldn't wait much longer so she got her kids in the pool and started her lesson.

The kids were working on their stroke without their kickboard today so Paige had to keep a close eye on her students to correct them but mostly to make sure they

were safe.

5 minutes of her lesson passed and Paige looked to the door where an upset Braxton was being ushered in by a seemingly stressed Emily.

Emily quickly placed Braxton's towel down on a chair and he folded his arms and she handed him his goggles.

Paige focussed back on her class when she heard one of the students tell her that they had reached the deep end of the pool, where they were instructed to wait.

Braxton walked over to the pool where Paige was, tears in his eyes, goggles in hand with his arms still folded

"Hey buddy" Paige greeted softly as she looked up at him, hanging off the side of the pool

"Hello" He mumbled softly looking at his feet

"Are you ready to swim?" Paige asked

"Momma was supposed to be home today but her plane got cancelled" Braxton said folding his arms tighter "She was supposed to come today"

"I'm sorry Braxton, she'll be home soon though" Paige said nodding "You know, when I was sad, I used to jump into the pool and swim and it would make me

happy"

"I don't think it will do that for me" Braxton said shaking his head furiously

"It might, you won't know until you try it" Paige encouraged "If you don't feel happier after a while you tell me and we'll figure something else out. What do you

say?"

"Okay" Braxton said nodding after a moments hesitation

Braxton walked to the side of the pool where his classmates were and he sat down on the edge of the pool and slipped in

"Why don't we go back to the other side of the pool, doing the exact same thing but whoever does it their stroke the best this time will get something from me at

the end" Paige said to her students "I'll be watching"

The rest of the lesson went relatively smoothly and Braxton seemed cheered up by the time the lesson finished, so much so that he hurried off to get changed

straight after his lesson with his friends.

"I'm so sorry he was late" Emily said approaching the side of the pool as Paige pulled herself out of the pool to stand in front of her

"No that's okay" Paige said running a hand over her hair to get rid of some excess "It was no problem, he didn't miss much anyway"

"He didn't want to leave the house without Hanna and she can't come home today so he's upset" Emily said shaking her head "Her plane was cancelled last night"

"Poor kid" Paige nodded

"I don't know how you got him into the pool though" Emily said shaking her head "I had a hard time getting him to change and get ready, he just didn't want to do

anything today"

"He's a sweet kid, I just listened to him and told him how I used to stop being sad" Paige replied with a simple shrug

"Well thank you for that" Emily said

"No problem" Paige said shrugging "He just misses his mom"

"Are you free for a run on Monday?" Emily asked

"Yeah, of course" Paige nodded "That sounds good"

"Great" Emily replied with a small smile

"Well…have a good weekend" Paige said politely with a shy smile

"Thanks, you too" Emily said as Braxton made her way over to Emily "Come on"

Paige turned around to see Jason standing in behind her once again with a grin on his face

"You blew it" Jason laughed

"I blew what?" Paige asked

"You should have asked her out" Jason replied shaking his head

"Nope, too early" Paige said quickly "I want to get to know her some more"

"She likes you though, you can tell" Jason noted "Get to know her on a date"

"I know, I just don't want to rush it" Paige shook her head

"Right, well don't wait too long" Jason said as he walked away

"But" Paige began to speak with her arms out by her side but he just waved as he walked into his office

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**I hoped you liked it! Emily and Paige will be continuing to get to know each other a little more over the next few chapters! **

**Have a great rest of your weekend, i will update asap! **

**Dani :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi again! Hope you're all having a great week! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, i really appreciate it! It motivates me to update sooner so please review! **

**So for the sake of this story i made up an Olympian in Paige's backstory for the sake on the chapter/fic, just as a heads up to everyone.**

**Hope you like the new chapter! Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Paige walked into the Rosewood high with her gym bag slung over her shoulder. She was on her way to the pool to do a few laps while no one was there but before she did that, she was going to go find Spencer and Aria and speak to them about her Emily situation. She found Spencer in her office who texted Aria to come into her office, which didn't take more than a few moments as Aria's classroom was just down the hall.

"I don't know what to do about Emily" Paige said sitting across from Spencer's desk

"What do you mean you don't know what to do about her?" Aria asked leaning against the desk

"I mean I like this girl but I don't know if I should really ask her out or whether we should just continue for a little while as friends" Paige shook her head "I don't

even know if I'm her friend or anything"

"Well then keep your distance for now" Spencer offered

"But I feel like I know the girl" Paige said with a small smile "And I don't want to keep my distance from her but I also don't know if I want to rush into anything,

last time that happened…well you know what happened"

"Yeah but Emily is different" Aria reasoned pointing to Paige "Emily will look out for you and she has a big heart unlike your previous relationship where she just

looked out for herself"

"I know that she's different, which is why I don't want to do anything stupid and move too fast" Paige said shaking her head "But then again I don't want to move

to slowly. What do you think Emily would want?"

"Paige, you should ask her yourself" Spencer replied with her usual, blunt honesty "Just tell her this"

"But would that make me seem weird?" Paige asked

"You know, for someone so successful and sure of yourself in the pool, you're like a fish out of water in life" Spencer smirked

"I know" Paige said slapping her forehead gently

"I'm just going to tell you to do what you think is right. It can't hurt getting to know her more, you two seem to have a good time together so does it really matter

whether you're spending time with her as a friend or more than a friend?" Spencer asked with a shrug "Let it progress by itself"

"And this Spencer is why I love you" Paige said and she looked to Aria "You too but you guys could have just said that in the first place"

"I tried but you wouldn't stop speaking to let me explain" Spencer said holding her hands out defensively "Just take note that I am a better friend than Miss

Montgomery here"

"Hey" Aria said pushing Spencer gently

"Ladies, you don't need to fight over me" Paige joked

"You have any plans this weekend?" Aria asked

"I don't know" Paige shook her head "Hanging out with you two? Why don't we go for a run or something tomorrow morning"

"I'll spare you the humiliation, I just set myself a new PB" Spencer said cockily

"Let's go then, see if you can keep up" Paige joked "8am"

"You're on but don't be humiliated when you're ego is badly bruised thanks to me" Spencer replied with a smirk

"You two can run your hearts out, I'm not touching that" Aria shook her head "I will be asleep"

"You'll seriously go for a run with me?" Paige asked

"Isn't Emily your running buddy?" Spencer replied

"We go for runs" Paige said nodding "But with you, I don't have to think about how fast I'm going, I'll gladly leave you in the dust"

The weekend went quickly, Paige spent most of it in her yard trying to perfect her garden, she had a bit of a green thumb sometimes, or she was trying to anyway. She didn't like her front yard when she moved in so she made a mental note to fix it up and that weekend had been the first chance she had gotten. Over the weekend she had received a message from Emily that she couldn't make their run on Monday because she had to start work early but they would be on for the next week.

Paige was a little disappointed that she couldn't see Emily but she understood that she had to work and she respected that. Paige and Spencer did go for their run and Paige ended up beating Spencer, which she did not let her live down that whole day, they even bet loser bought lunch so Paige made sure to take advantage of that.

Thursday morning came along and Paige was waiting in line at the brew for her coffee so she could head into the high school to do a little research on the team the sharks were facing in their next meet. She paid for her coffee before she turned to go to the back of the line and wait when she felt a coffee pour over her chest and down her shirt as she bumped into the person who was attempting to walk past, who just happened to be Emily.

"Paige!" Emily said as she bent down to pick her now empty cup up and placed it down on a table near by "I'm so sorry"

"No it's okay" Paige said shaking her head, looking down at her shirt which was covered in coffee "Luckily you were waiting so long that it cooled down"

"Here" Emily said as she handed Paige some napkins with an apologetic look "I'm so sorry, I don't know how to apologize enough"

"It's fine, it's just coffee" Paige shook her head as she began to try and wipe the coffee off herself

"I've probably just ruined your shirt" Emily rambled on in a panicked tone "Can I get it washed for you or something? Maybe get you a replacement shirt?"

"No, it's fine" Paige said laughing as she looked up to lock eyes with a very worried Emily "It's just a shirt, it's okay. I can wash it, I have very good washing skills

you know?"

"I've just been under a lot of pressure this week with work and I'm just in my own little world" Emily said as she gestured to Paige's shirt "As you can see but I

know that's no excuse and I should have been watching where I walked"

"You're really wound up" Paige observed with raised eyebrows "That isn't your first cup today, is it?"

"Well, no" Emily said sheepishly "But I was at work so late last night that I need it"

"Maybe it's best I'm wearing it then" Paige laughed as she gave up on cleaning her shirt "I will make a pit stop and get changed at home"

"I feel awful" Emily shook her head placed her head in her hands for a moment

"Don't" Paige shrugged, reaching out to touch Emily's shoulder quickly "As I said, good thing you waited so long for it today then"

"Yeah" Emily laughed quietly "I guess I should get going"

"Paige" She heard her name being called out by the barista

"Okay, what kind of coffee do you usually get?" Paige asked taking a few steps back towards the counter

"Flat white" Emily noted

Paige nodded as she reached her coffee and she walked straight back to Emily without a word to hold it out to her.

"You're in luck that I also drink that" Paige said with a smile

"No, I should be buying you one. I ran into you" Emily shook her head

"You said you needed it, right?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"I did say that" Emily responded with a nod after pausing for a moment

"Well then take it" Paige said still holding it out "I actually have time to wait for another one"

"Are you sure?" Emily asked

"Please" Paige nodded holding the coffee a little close to Emily once more

Emily took the coffee from Paige's hand, their fingers touching for an instant which Paige did not fail to note

"Get to work" Paige said playfully gesturing to the door

"I owe you, a lot" Emily said "Thank you and sorry again"

"We should stop meeting like this" Paige said smiled

"Hey I've only done this the one" Emily replied

"I mean by coincidence" Paige laughed

"Right" Emily chuckled "I should get going"

"I will see you tomorrow assuming you're taking Braxton to his lesson?" Paige asked

"I am, I'll see you then" Emily said

Paige looked down to the floor for a moment before she smiled up at Emily again and then she moved back into the line, which had gotten a little longer in the time

she had been speaking to Emily but she didn't mind.

"What are you doing tonight?" Emily asked approaching Paige again

"Tonight?" Paige asked furrowing her eyebrows, surprised by Emily's presence again

"Hanna was supposed to be having a night out with me" Emily began "By night out I just mean movie but she's cancelled on me and I've already bought the

tickets…and I thought if you were free, we could go? As a kind of getting to know you more night"

"A getting to know you more night?" Paige asked with a smirk

"That's what I'm sticking with" Emily said nodding "You in?"

"Sure" Paige replied without hesitation

"Great, meet me at the cinema's at 8" Emily said as she backed away from Paige

"Watch where you walk Fields" Paige joked as Emily walked out of the brew

"Someone is very late" Spencer observed as Paige walked down the hall

"I know, I know" Paige said turning around as soon as she heard Spencer's voice "I had a bit of an accident at the brew"

"Accident?" Spencer asked curiously

"Emily ran into me, literally, with coffee" Paige replied

"You didn't tell me you were meeting her this morning" Spencer said raising an eyebrow "You sneaking around on me with Emily Fields?"

"Ha ha" Paige said rolling her eyes "No, she was at the brew this morning and we ran into each other so I was wearing her coffee for a good 15 minutes before I

got home and changed"

"Mom said that they were really working hard on a case" Spencer nodded

"Anyway, I'm seeing a movie with her tonight" Paige admitted with a smile

"Oh really?" Spencer asked with a knowing smile "You have a date?"

"It doesn't have that official title" Paige said shaking her head "We're getting to know each other a little more"

"Which is a date" Spencer said nodding

"Spencer" Paige warned playfully "Get back to work"

"We're talking later" Spencer said pointing to Paige "A good old McCullers-Hastings chat"

"Nope" Paige shook her head as she began walking away "I can't, I'm busy all day. Bye Spence"

8pm came quickly and Paige stood outside the movie theatre, her hands behind her back rocking back and forth on her heels as she waited for Emily.

"Waiting for someone?" She heard Emily saying behind her

"Yeah, have you seen her?" Paige asked as she looked around "Dark hair, olive skin…"

"You know, you're very prompt" Emily said as she walked around Paige to face her

"I'm an athlete, I'm pretty much ruled by time" Paige shrugged "Always had to be"

"I guess that's true" Emily nodded "You ready to go in?"

"Yeah" Paige nodded "You survived work I see"

"I didn't even spill my coffee again" Emily added proudly

"You mean my coffee, right?" Paige said poking fun at Emily

"Come on" Emily said grabbing Paige and pulling her to the entrance of the movie theatre.

They sat down next to each other to watch the movie and Paige couldn't help but look at Emily during the movie at times, the reflection off the screen lit up

Emily's face like the fire did at the bonfire. Paige smiled to herself and she shook her head slightly how she could have met someone like Emily in Rosewood.

Once the movie had finished they made their way out of the theater, standing in the street, between people who were exiting the theatre as well.

"Should we go and get something to eat?" Emily asked as she pointed to her watch "It's still pretty early"

"Yeah" Paige nodded with a smile "No coffee for you though"

"I am all coffee'd out" Emily said holding her hand up to her chest "I swear"

"Okay" Paige laughed as she smiled brightly but looking down at her feet "Come on"

"So what are you doing this weekend?" Paige asked as soon as they arrived at a near by restaurant, sitting down across from Emily at a table

"I'll probably be at work" Emily shrugged "Otherwise I will be visiting my parents and trying to do some things I didn't get to do during the week. What are you

doing?"

"Not too sure" Paige shrugged "I've got to speak to my manager, I have an interview for a magazine coming up just featuring Olympians of 2012"

"Manager huh?" Emily asked "I almost forgot you were a bit of a celebrity"

"Well he helps me with my sponsors and stuff like that" Paige shrugged

"What magazine is it?" Emily asked curiously

"Women's health" Paige said with a shrug again "They want to do a feature on my life after the Olympics and after retiring so they are sending someone here to

interview me"

"So when's that happening?" Emily asked

"As soon as they can get out here I guess" Paige replied "Could be a while, could be next weekend. I'll find out this weekend"

"That's so cool that they're going to interview you though" Emily nodded

"Not really, I'm pretty boring" Paige shook her head slowly "I mean I'm a regular person with a regular life"

"You're an Olympic champion" Emily offered

"Yeah but it's not like I saved anyone's life or anything" Paige shook her head again "I mean I get that I did some great things in the pool but when I'm out of it,

I'm a normal person"

"Maybe you did save some lives" Emily replied "I mean you came out publically to help other people going through the same thing"

"You think?" Paige asked with a small smile

"You were brave" Emily replied confidently "Being in the public eye and doing what you do takes some courage, that's for sure"

"My management wanted me to wait until the end of the Olympics but I had to do it before" Paige replied shrugging "it was the right time, I was single and it

wouldn't implicate anyone but myself"

"You were single?" Emily asked with a curious yet innocent look on her face

"Well I still am obviously" Paige replied rubbing her legs quickly as she sighed quietly "It was probably better that I was single at the Olympics"

"So how long have you been single for then?" Emily asked "If you don't mind me asking"

"I don't mind" Paige said quickly "About 8 months I think, I'm not following it too closely but about 8 months"

"I've been single for a year" Emily countered

"You win" Paige laughed quietly "I think for me it was important to stay single for a while after my last relationship"

"I know what you mean" Emily agreed

"Should we compare war stories?" Paige joked

"War stories?" Emily asked raising an eyebrow

"Our ex's" Paige said "I know that's not a very fun topic to talk about but it sounds to me like we kind of have something in common with our pasts"

"What, that our ex's treated us pretty badly?" Emily asked

"Sounds kind of like we just put up with it too" Paige replied "So?"

"I'll tell you as long as you tell me straight away" Emily nodded

"You have yourself a deal Emily Fields" Paige said playfully

"So up until a year ago I had been in relationship after relationship" Emily started "And I went from one girl to another until I found Samara, I think maybe

because I was just rushing, trying to find that one girl. She was a year older than me so I was a Junior when we met and she was a Senior, she was sweet,

beautiful, kind and everything I could have asked for. I met her in college so we juggled each other and classes and it was difficult sometimes. When we got past

our one year…she started acting strange, she started pulling away from me and being distant, she wouldn't reply to my texts and calls and I knew something was

wrong. There's nothing like that feeling when you love someone so much but you can just feel them drifting from you…so I confronted her about it and she told me

that she wanted to break up with me because she didn't love me anymore and she had been cheating on me anyway…with my roommate"

"Wow" Paige said raising her eyebrows "Your roommate?"

"I came back to my dorm one day and as I came in, Samara was leaving looking like she had just spent the night and she had" Emily nodded "I confronted my

roommate after that and she told me everything, they had been seeing each other for about 2 months behind my back. They did a good job, I had no idea"

"Wow" Paige replied in shock again "Talk about a stab in the back"

"She didn't stay my roommate for long obviously but I was pretty heart broken. I thought Samara and I could have been together for a long time and then she

just left me on my own. I had spent so much time with her that I left my friendships behind thanks to her, I had no one. Looking back she was very controlling but

I didn't know that and she was manipulative. I just felt really alone when she left me and it just hurt. Someone who you think has your best interests at heart,

betrays you without any warning"

"I'm really sorry Em" Paige said reaching over, placing her hand gently on Emily's for a moment

"No, it's fine" Emily replied trying to not be effected by Paige's touch but she couldn't help it "I haven't dated since because I don't want to just settle for someone

who isn't good enough for me, I'm a big believer in taking it slow now days, Samara and I rushed into our relationship so I don't want to make that mistake again"

"Good" Paige said nodding "So is that a reason why you drifted from Spencer and Aria?"

"One of the reasons" Emily nodded "But I drifted from everyone, not just those two"

"Even Hanna?" Paige asked

"Unfortunately yes" Emily explained "But I soon got her back in my life. So how about you?"

"I was in a relationship until about 9 months ago as I said. I've been on the odd date but nothing has really worked out" Paige said shaking her head "The months

leading up to the Olympics I didn't focus on anything but swimming so I had no time and after I was busy doing everything else and with surgery and rehab, I had

no time for anything. Partially why I came home, so my life could calm down for a while"

"So you knew straight away you were going to need further surgery?" Emily asked

"I knew going into my race that I would require surgery if I went through to the final. It was already on the edge of a huge tear and the doctor told me I could race

and tear it or I could leave it" Paige replied honestly "It shortened my career sure but I thought it was worth it and I was kind of living in the moment, even

without injury I thought it would be my last year as a professional"

"I'd think in the moment as well, you won 10 medals in one Olympics" Emily reasoned

"I knew it was time to move on anyway" Paige replied with a shrug "It's a hard thing shifting your focus and holding it to another 4 years of 3am starts and 10pm

finishes"

"Wow" Emily raised her eyebrows

"Anyway, so before the Olympics I was dating a girl called Holly. Holly Jenkinson" Paige admitted

"Holly Jenkinson?" Emily asked "As in Holly Jenkinson of the Gymnastics team?"

"The one and only" Paige replied with a small smile

"But she just got married" Emily said raising her eyebrow ducking her head slightly

"She did" Paige said chuckling "Ironic really that she invited me too, like she thought I would actually go"

"Wow. How long were you two together?" Emily asked

"For about 10 months leading up to London. We were both very busy but our training facilities were near each others so we snuck in some time here and there

with each other, we almost moved in together" Paige replied giving the best explanation she wanted "No one knew except for a select few of our team mates that

we trusted. It wasn't something we really wanted to make public because we already had enough pressure on us and she didn't want to be out, that was just me.

So towards the end of our relationship, it was the same as yours, she was distant and wasn't as affectionate as she was before. Hol was a very affectionate girl and

sweet and when that changed I knew something was wrong so I decided to bite the bullet and I sat down with her and she told me she couldn't be with me

anymore because she was having feelings for one of the coaching staff and she didn't want to hurt me or lead me on so we broke up"

"Ouch" Emily replied flinching slightly

"I'll admit that it hurt at the time and it hurt my ego but looking back, I'm glad we ended it there instead of continuing to be unhappy" Paige said shrugging "I

knew it wasn't right in the end so there was no use hanging onto it"

"So do you still talk to her?" Emily asked

"Not often" Paige nodded awkwardly "But we'll see each other at events or something and say hi quickly. Her husband doesn't really enjoy me spending that much

time around her which I guess I understand"

"So he knows then" Emily replied

"Yes" Paige said briefly "She was honest with him. Anyway, it was kind of good timing anyway for us. I had nothing left but the Olympics to focus on after so it was

great for me. We broke up about 2 months out from the Games and I decided to publically come out soon after that and she got engaged within 6 months of being

with him. She missed out on a medal in her events but had a pretty good games regardless"

"Yeah but you did better" Emily said with a smirk "Take that Holly"

Paige laughed and nodded

"But sounds like we have a very similar history in love" Paige said

"I think you and I have a bit in common" Emily replied looking around the restaurant

Dinner was great, they finished speaking about their pasts and before they knew it, they were making their way back to their cars and paused almost awkwardly to

say goodbye to each other.

"Well, thanks for inviting me out tonight" Paige began "It was nice to get to know you a bit more"

"Yeah, you too" Emily agreed "Who knew we were so similar in our love lives"

"I know" Paige replied "Sounds like we're both suckers"

"I guess so" Emily laughed

"So…I'll see you tomorrow then?" Paige asked

"You will" Emily replied "Braxton loves going to swimming ever since you got here"

"I'm glad" Paige smiled "What do you think about coming to swimming every Friday?"

"It's certainly growing on me" Emily nodded

"Good night Emily" Paige said quietly

"Night Paige"

They paused for a moment before Emily reached out to hug Paige awkwardly, both unsure of what they should do. The hug was nice, Paige certainly enjoyed it but

she knew she could have done better but she didn't want to push her luck with Emily. They soon broke apart and Emily got in her car, driving away pretty quickly.

Paige sighed and she hit her head lightly on her window and groaned

"Damn it McCullers" Paige groaned frustrated at herself

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Please review! I should have a new chapter up soon, i have a busy weekend ahead so I'm not sure when i will update next but it will be soon! Did everyone watch the new PLL episode btw? What did everyone think? Mostly of the Paily scenes really! :P**


	5. Chapter 5

**Back again! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend! Sorry if this one isn't edited so well, i wanted to get it out and I'm exhausted...it's been a very excellent but tiring weekend! I hope you guys are having a great weekend too. **

**Thanks again for the reviews, i know i say it every time but i appreciate it every time. I probably wouldn't be updating so quickly you guys didn't review. Thanks to those who put so much effort in as well and leave super detailed reviews, it's really encouraging. So please review this chapter as well!**

**Anyway, so here is chapter 5. The meatier stuff is coming in the next 2-3 chapters! There will be some jealousy and a date coming up soon so Paily will be happening soon people! :P Just be patient with me :) **

* * *

The next day Paige was sitting in the office of the aquatic center, waiting for her class to arrive while she filled in some routine paperwork.

"You almost ready to go out there?" Jason asked walking into the office "Your class is arriving"

"Yeah, I'll go out in a second" Paige nodded not looking out from the paper the was writing on with a concentrated look on her

face "Can I ask something?"

"Sure" Jason nodded

"What do you think I should do with Emily?" Paige asked finally looking up from her work

"What do you mean?" Jason asked

"You've known her for a long time, I figure she likes me but I don't know whether she is just waiting for me to ask her out or

whether she just wants to be friends for now or what" Paige said with a shrug

"Shouldn't you just ask her that yourself?" Jason asked

"I guess I should but last night we talked about our ex's and she said that she wanted to go slow with the next person she

was dating" Paige said with a nod "Last night I had a chance to kiss her and I didn't take it and now I don't know whether I'm

sending the right signals or not"

"Paige, calm down" Jason said with wide eyes "You're over thinking this"

"I just…I like this girl but I don't know how to tell her" Paige replied "I'm not good with this stuff"

"Tell her you like her, simple as that" Jason replied

"What if she just wants to be friends?" Paige asked

"Then you have a new friend and you can build on that" Jason said with a shrug "But I don't think she just wants to be

friends, I have seen her when she talks to you"

"I don't want to mess it up" Paige said with a sigh

"If you don't want to mess it up then don't do anything but I don't think you're going to mess anything up Paige" Jason

offered as he placed his hand on Paige's shoulder "Honestly"

"Thanks" Paige said nodding "I guess I'm just going to have to talk to her about it. In fact, I'll talk to her about it today when

she brings Braxton is after class"

"Good" Jason nodded "Now, can you go outside and set your lesson up? This paper work can wait"

"Sure" Paige nodded "Thanks again Jason"

"That's okay" Jason replied simply

Paige's class began to arrive and soon she saw Braxton rush through the doors with a huge smile on his face which couldn't help but make her smile herself. Instead of seeing Emily behind him though she saw Hanna, followed by Caleb. She waited a moment to see if Emily was trailing behind them but she was no where to be seen. Hanna looked to Paige, waving at her and she offered a quick wave back before she went to grab the kickboards

"She had to work this morning" Hanna said as she approached Paige

"I thought so" Paige nodded as she put the kickboards down on the floor

"She wanted to come this morning, she loves bringing Brax" Hanna replied apologetically "She said she would text you"

"It's okay Hanna" Paige said with a small smile "I'm here to teach a class not to see Em"

"But that makes it better right, seeing her?" Hanna asked raising her eyebrows

"I mean I guess" Paige replied furrowing her eyebrows as she placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side

slightly looking at Hana

"Okay, well I'll leave you to it" Hanna said with a smile "Good luck with the teaching and all"

"Uh thanks" Paige laughed

Hanna turned around to walk away and she looked to Caleb who mouthed 'sorry' to Paige who just shook her head, laughing further.

The class ran smoothly, the kids were really starting to progress and Paige was a good coach. She was patient, she was kind but she also gave them clear instructions so they found it easy to follow.

The kids got out of the pool and changed, most of them leaving but a few stayed around while their parents were having conversations with each other or Jason about their classes. Paige continued her usual routine of packing up the kickboards and stacking them properly.

When she was finally finished, she turned from the kickboard stand to walk away when she found Braxton standing by the pool with Hanna, waiting for Paige to be done. She graciously took the hint with a sigh and approached them, Hanna had a grin on her face and Braxton was giggling by her side.

"Do you guys need something?" Paige asked

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" Hanna replied with a question of her own

"I don't have much planned" Paige said shaking her head "In fact I believe I have nothing going on"

"Well, we're planning on having a Barbeque and Brax was too shy to ask his favourite coach if you wanted to come but we

thought seeing as you are still kind of new here, we could extend the invitation to you" Hanna offered "Caleb is an excellent

cook and I stand next to the food and help it look even better so you'd be in for a good night"

"Tomorrow night?" Paige asked with a small smile

"Yes, you should definitely come" Hanna replied nodding

"Did you want me to bring anything?" Paige asked

"Just yourself is all we will need" Hanna said as she handed Paige a neatly folded piece of paper that she pulled out of her

pocket "Directions to my house"

"You drew this up before you came here?" Paige asked raising her eyebrow looking at her map

"I knew you'd say yes" Hanna said with a small smile "We'll see you at 7:30"

"Thanks" Paige nodded

"Bye Miss McCullers" Braxton said sweetly

"Bye buddy" Paige waved

She looked down to Hanna's address again as they walked away, leaving her there standing by the pool by herself.

She went to her bag, pulling out her phone to see that she did indeed receive a text message from Emily earlier in the day when she had been in the office doing her work.

Hey so I'm not bringing Brax in today, I have to go into work early. I'll text you later! – Emily

The next day went quickly for Paige, she had a phone meeting with her manager, she was going to be called by the journalist who she was meeting in town soon so they could set up a meeting. She spent the rest of the day trying to work on her yard again, hoping to see some results literally start popping up soon.

She hadn't spoken to Emily since Emily sent the text on Friday afternoon, Paige sent her a reply but she hadn't heard anything further from her, which Paige understood Emily was busy but it kind of just made her anxious. She wasn't sure where she stood with Emily but she really did want to find out.

Paige knocked on Hanna's door with flowers for Hanna seeing as she extended an invitation to have her over for dinner. She wasn't sure she knew what her motivation for that was but she was happy to be there none the less. She waited for a moment to hear Hanna call out for someone to get the door and Paige was almost surprised when it did open though she couldn't say she wasn't happy or excited.

"Paige?" Emily asked with a smile

"Em" Paige furrowed her eyebrows "Am I here on the wrong night? I hope I'm not interrupting or intruding"

"Even if you were, you'd be staying" Emily said as she moved aside for Paige "Come in"

"Hanna invited me to their Barbeque yesterday after Braxton's lesson" Paige said walking inside the house

"Really, that's funny because we had this planned for a week and she never mentioned she was going to invite you" Emily

said looking to Hanna as they reached the kitchen

"I can leave…" Paige said looking between Hanna and Emily for a moment, trying to read whether there was actual tension or not

"No, I don't want you to leave" Emily said quickly as she placed a hand on Paige's forearm "I was just saying how Hanna

failed to tell me how she invited you"

"Last minute decision" Hanna shrugged feigning innocence "I didn't think you'd mind Em, plus I saw Paige yesterday and she

said she was all alone tonight with no one to hang out with so I thought she could come over"

"Actually, she asked me what I was doing. I just hope I'm not intruding" Paige whispered quietly to Emily, leaning in to her

ear closely so Hanna couldn't hear

"I don't doubt it" Emily shook her head with a smirk "I'm glad you came though"

"Me too" Paige nodded before she leaned back from Emily to look to the blonde "Hanna, I brought some flowers for inviting

me"

"Thanks" Hanna said as she approached Paige, taking the flowers from her and placing them by the sink "I'll put them in a

vase after. Find the place okay?"

"Yeah, your directions were very…thorough" Paige said "I didn't know you knew where I lived though"

"Everyone does" Hanna said waving her off

"So where's Braxton?" Paige asked looking around the kitchen for the small boy

Hanna and Caleb had a very nice house, her job as a magazine editor meant that she did a bit of travelling but she tried to stay home with Braxton as much as possible

"He's at his grandmothers" Hanna answered "She wanted to have him over so we decided we could do a barbeque"

"Well thank you for thinking to invite me and you have a beautiful home" Paige complimented

"Thank you McCullers" Hanna smiled "Glad you could come. It's not everyday you get a professional athlete in our house"

"Hey Paige" Caleb said walking in the kitchen with a smirk

"Hey Caleb" Paige replied happily

"Why are you smirking?" Hanna asked

"Because she's not just an athlete, she's a 9 time gold medalist, a silver medalist, 5 world records, one Olympic record

national record and a bag full of national title medals" Caleb said listing off Paige's achievements

"Wow…" Paige said furrowing her eyebrows "Are you the one who updates my Wikipedia page?"

"Well no but I could if you wanted" Caleb said laughing at her reaction

"How do you know all of that?" Paige asked

"It's kind of common knowledge around here" Emily said shrugging as she looked at Paige with a grin, moving to lean against

the bench facing everyone

"So you were really good then?" Hanna asked, which made everyone look to her but she just shrugged "I mean I knew Paige

was good but I didn't know she was like fantastic and the queen of the pool"

"Well I certainly wouldn't go so far as calling me the queen of the pool. I only won 9 Gold" Paige said

"In one Olympics….which is almost every race you swam in but 1 and you would have won your other one if you hadn't hurt

your shoulder" Emily shrugged

"No one knows if I would have or not" Paige shrugged

"You would have" Caleb said

"Can I come here every night, you guys are very good for my ego" Paige joked

"So you get into the Olympics and you can't even admit you're great?" Hanna asked

"Okay how about we stop quizzing Paige here" Emily said quickly

"I don't think I'm great, I just think I worked hard and I wanted it more than anyone in those races" Paige reasoned humbly

"Sorry" Hanna said raising her hands defensively "I've never had an Olympian in my house, even more a champion Olympian

so I don't know what I can and can't ask you"

"You can ask me whatever you would like" Paige said shrugging "I just don't like having focus on me but if you want to talk

about it we can"

"We'll talk about other things" Hanna smiled "You don't deserve to come into my house and have to be interrogated"

"It's fine" Paige said "If I can handle the press, I can handle you"

"I wouldn't say that" Caleb muttered quietly

"Anyway, so it's great how you're friends with Spencer and Aria" Hanna said "Want to go to the table guys and we can eat?"

"Sounds great" Emily said nodding

Once they were at the table and eating the conversation resumed but to when Paige thought Braxton and Caleb were Emily's

family

"Well I didn't know that Hanna was around" Paige shrugged as she leaned back in her chair

"No offence Em but no one could have made such a beautiful child with Caleb than me" Hanna said

"You're just lucky he's cute" Emily said jokingly

"He is cute" Paige said pausing before she spoke again "Which is why I thought he was yours"

"Hey" Hanna said jokingly "I'll let that slide this time"

"But I'm glad you found out Brax is Hanna's" Emily said smiling across the table at Paige

"Me too" Paige replied "So what do you do Caleb?"

"I actually do computer programming" Caleb replied "Nothing too interesting"

"I think that's interesting. I know nothing about it so you're one up on me" Paige said nodding "I'm kind of hopeless with

computers"

"Me too" Hanna said shaking her head before she paused "Or I used to be anyway"

"Well it would be handy having him around then" Paige said

"It is" Hanna said with a smile before she pointed her fork to Paige "You have a coaching license right?"

"I do" Paige said glancing to Emily then returning her gaze to Hanna

"So what point between the Olympics and now did you have time to do that?" Hanna asked

"I got it years ago while I was training" Paige noted "I kind of knew I wanted to do something like I am now when I retired"

"I wish I could retire" Hanna groaned

"Well I'm still working" Paige shrugged

"I wish I could retire too and I haven't really started anything yet" Emily said

"You'll get your breakthrough case soon, you've been working so hard lately" Hanna said "Have you ever thought to speak to

Spencer's mom?"

"No, I want to earn my way" Emily replied shaking her head

"And I think that's great" Caleb said

"Me too" Paige agreed "You'll earn your stripes Em"

"Thank you" Emily said blushing as she looked down to her plate

"You two are so sweet" Hanna squealed

Paige looked down to her plate, uncomfortable with the attention Hanna was bringing to the two of them but she fought off a smile hearing words of encouragement for them.

"Han" Caleb raised his eyebrow seeing Paige's reaction

"I'm going inside to get some more salad" Hanna said standing quickly from her seat "Em will you help me please?"

"Sure" Emily nodded looking at Hanna with a raised eyebrow

"So at what point were you going to tell me Paige was coming?" Emily asked as they reached the kitchen

"I wasn't going to" Hanna shrugged "How do you think it's going?"

"How do I think what's going?" Emily asked

"You and Paige" Hanna said looking out to the table to see Paige and Caleb talking about something she couldn't hear

"Seriously, you two would be perfect"

"Hanna you can't force us together" Emily said shaking her head

"I'm not forcing you together, you two like each other, right?" Hanna asked

"I do like her" Emily nodded "But I don't want to rush anything…I don't know whether she wants to get into a relationship

just yet either"

"She likes you Em" Hanna said "She likes you a lot and you two would be so cute together"

Emily smiled and she looked out to Paige through the kitchen window

"I guess I need to talk to her about this" Emily sighed "Come on, let's go or they'll think something is going on"

Dinner went well, the food was nice and the company was great. The night went on and Paige and Emily decided to go home so they said goodbye to Hanna and Caleb and made their way to their cars.

"So that felt like a bit of a set up huh?" Paige asked

"I know what you mean" Emily nodded with a smile

"I hope I didn't intrude on your night or anything" Paige said again as she folded her arms tightly

"Of course you didn't I'm so glad you were here tonight" Emily said nodding as well and she looked back to the house "And

Hanna is probably spying on us right now"

"Does she do this a lot to you?" Paige asked

"Not really, I mean yes but she's never gone to these lengths" Emily said "I would call it pushy if I wasn't happy to go in the

direction she's pushing me"

"You are?" Paige asked

"Paige, I don't know what this is between us but whatever it is, I like it" Emily said

"Well so do it" Paige said looking at Emily with a small smile "I just…I want to get to know you…to really get to know you as a

friend and I don't' want to rush anything because I like where we are"

"Yeah, me too" Emily said nodding after a moments pause

It wasn't the answer Paige had intended on giving; it wasn't even how she wanted it to come out but after the words left her mouth, she couldn't take them back. She wanted Emily as much more than a friend but she was bad at this, she always was, she didn't know how to express to Emily that she did want something more.

She just didn't want to pressure Emily into anything because she was ready for a relationship when she didn't know if Emily was or not.

"Well I guess I'll see you Monday then?" Paige asked

"That sounds great" Emily said

"Okay, great" Paige said with a smile "I had a lot of fun tonight with you Emily"

"Good night Paige" Emily smiled as she leaned over to place a soft kiss on Paige's cheek

"Night" Paige replied in a dazed tone as she hopped into her car, she had it bad for Emily Fields and she needed to really tell her...and soon.

* * *

**Hope you liked that one. I promise that the next few chapters will start to get interesting so stay with me! Please review, i really appreciate it. **

**Have a good rest of your weekend! **

**Dani :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone! So thank you for all the reviews once again! I say this every time and i mean it every time. Thank you to the guest reviewers as well who I can't thank via PM and a special thank you to the guest reviewer Cici who always writes really great reviews and i thought seeing as I can't thank you any other way, i would do it now! **

**Anyway! I hope you all like this chapter! This is where the ball definitely starts to get rolling, by next chapter you may or may not have some Paily romance going on :P I kind of wanted to plant some seeds about something else I'm going to focus on in the next phase of the story. Hope you're all having a great week so far, please read and review! I hope you like it :) **

* * *

"So she kissed you on the cheek and you just let her walk away" Spencer said as they walked from her kitchen to the lounge

room with cups of tea where Aria was sitting on the couch waiting for them

"I don't know what is wrong with me" Paige said shaking her head in frustration "This has happened twice. It's like I just

freeze up around her and I say the wrong things. I don't know if I have ever behaved like this…it's like she's my kryptonite or

something"

"Say the wrong things?" Aria asked raising her eyebrows "What did you say wrong to her?"

"So last night, Emily kind of wondered what we are and I heard her talking to Hanna earlier saying she didn't want to rush

into anything and that she wasn't sure if she was ready to get into a relationship so I froze when she asked me and pretty

much spat back those words to her" Paige said shaking her head "But now I'm not sure what I heard because her face almost

dropped when I said that to her. I might have messed up"

"Foot in your mouth again McCullers?" Spencer joked

"Spence" Aria warned "Don't worry Paige, there's plenty of time to talk to her again and maybe it was good that you said

that. Maybe she will think that you're really thinking about this and I know you do actually want to take your time "

"I said it because I didn't want to pressure her or make her feel like I was crazy when I thought she still wanted to wait"

Paige replied "I am more than happy to stay like this and be her friend for a while but I would love to take her out on a date,

that girl is amazing"

"Wow, Paige you really like her" Spencer said leaning forward in her chair

"Yeah, I do like her" Paige nodded

"I think my favourite part was how Hanna invited you over and you had no idea Emily was there" Spencer said with a smile

"That is genius. I think I should have thought of that before, perfection"

"She always has been colourful" Aria said laughing

"She's really nice" Paige nodded with a smile "I mean it was nice what she did, her heart was in the right place"

"Paige if it meant to be then it will happen" Aria said comfortingly

"Sometimes you have to make it happen though" Spencer said "Don't let her get away"

"I know" Paige groaned

"So when is your interview for Women's health?" Spencer asked

"Sometime this week, my manager is going to let me know" Paige said "How's Toby?"

"He's fine" Spencer said with a pause "Though he hasn't been acting like himself"

"Why's that?" Paige asked raising her eyebrow

"I'm not sure, he's been working with Mona a bit at work and he seems to be really busy these days" Spencer said shaking

her head "I mean I know that he's just busy but he hardly even answers my calls during the day if I have to contact him, we

don't get as much time to ourselves because he's seemingly always busy"

"I'm sure he's just working really hard" Aria said "Nothing to worry about Spence, he would never do anything to hurt you"

"Did you want me to drop in and talk to him?" Paige asked "Maybe get some information or something out of him?"

"No, it's fine" Spencer shook her head "I'm sure it's nothing"

* * *

That afternoon Paige made her way to Toby's work, Spencer said no but Paige wasn't going to tell Spencer that she went. He

was a landscaper working on a big project of a park and Mona hired his company for the job. She pulled up in front of the park

finding Toby standing next to Mona, laughing with each other as she handed him a brown paper bag.

She got out of her car, walking over to Toby with a small smile

"What's funny?" Paige asked as she stood behind them

"Paige" Toby said turning around to face her, the smile almost dropping from his face

"Toby I have to get back to work" Mona said slickly with a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder quickly "You're doing a great

job"

"Thanks" Toby said nodding

"So, what was the joke?" Paige asked looking to Toby again once Mona had walked away

"More of a had to be there moment" Toby replied shrugging "What are you doing on this side of town?"

"I was just driving past and saw your truck, thought I would say hi" Paige shrugged "I haven't seen you in a while"

"I've been really busy" Toby shrugged

"So Spencer said" Paige nodded "The park looks good"

"Thanks" Toby smiled "I've been working really hard"

"So Mona just came by to check your progress?" Paige asked

"She's my boss" Toby shrugged "She bought me lunch because I'm doing such a great job. I'm lucky she hired me"

"Yeah" Paige nodded again "Toby I think Spencer misses you"

"Did she send you here to check on me?" Toby joked

"No, she did mention you have been working a lot though" Paige shrugged "Have you spoken to her about it?"

"No" Toby shrugged

"I just…I know what it's like to be in her situation right now and what she could be thinking, isn't fun" Paige replied cautiously

"Paige, this relationship isn't anything like your old one with Holly" Toby replied defensively "I would never hurt Spencer

intentionally"

"I know" Paige replied quickly "I'm not saying you would, I'm just saying that you should just make sure Spencer knows

that"

"Listen Paige, I have to get back to work" Toby sighed

"Toby I only came here to be a friend to you" Paige replied "Don't shut me out like that"

"I'm not shutting you out, I have to work" Toby grumbled

"Okay…okay fine but just think about what I said" Paige nodded taking a few steps away from Toby

"I'll talk to Spence" Toby called as Paige reached her car

"Good" Paige replied with a smile, turning back to her friend

* * *

It was Saturday afternoon and Paige was meeting the journalist from Women's health at the brew just after lunch time

before she went out shopping with Emily because Aria's birthday was coming up and Paige thought that Emily might know

more about fashion than she did plus Paige hated going shopping by herself. She thought that she could make it fun by taking

Emily so she bribed Emily with promise of paying for dinner but she didn't need much convincing.

Paige ordered her coffee and she sat down at her regular table that was in the corner of the brew, which allowed for some

privacy from the rest of the coffee shop.

"Paige McCullers" A beautiful blonde woman said with a charming smile as she stopped in front of Paige's table

"Hi" Paige said with a small smile "Can I help you?"

"I'm Samara, I'm the journalist for Women's Health" She said holding her hand out

"Oh, nice to meet you" Paige replied as she stood to shake Samara's hand "You find the place okay?"

"Easier than you know" Samara said with a smile sitting down across from Paige "You like this place?"

"I love this place" Paige replied nodding "I'm here all the time. So what am I in for today?"

"Just some questions about what you've been doing since you retired" Samara shuffled herself a little closer to Paige as she

placed her phone on the table, pulling out a notepad for extra notes "Nothing too difficult"

"Great" Paige nodded "Did you want to order anything?"

"I'm good thanks" Samara nodded as well "Now the photographer called me saying he was running really late so he won't be

able to join us but if we can meet up later tonight, he can meet us then?"

"Oh, okay" Paige replied scratching her head quickly

"Did you have plans?" Samara asked

"Not as such, this afternoon I do after and it was going to go into tonight but I guess I can postpone my dinner plans" Paige

shook her head "I guess that'll work"

"Good" Samara replied nodding as she hit record on her phone "So you've been coaching here since you retired?"

"I'm Assistant coach the Sharks swim team at Rosewood High" Paige replied "And I am teaching at the local swim school"

"How have you been able to keep your fitness from when you were training every day?" Samara asked

"I like to go for runs and to swim a lot but I'm certainly not at the level I was before I had my surgery and during the

Olympics" Paige shook her head "I haven't let myself slip too much though, I'm eating well and keeping fit. I want to be a

good example to the kids I'm coaching"

"Off the record" Samara said pressing the record button again to turn it off "Did you decide to come back here for a particular

reason?"

"Is anything ever really off the record?" Paige asked raising an eyebrow

"This will be" Samara replied

"This was my home before I left here when I was a teenager" Paige shrugged "I have people here I care about so I thought it

was time to make the move"

"And you're not getting bored with this place?" Samara asked leaning forward towards Paige

"No" Paige shook her head

"Any girls follow you here?" Samara asked with a smirk

"None that I know of" Paige replied awkwardly

"Come on, you can't possibly be single. Look at you; you're young, hot, successful…you're an Olympian"

"I haven't been in a relationship in a long time" Paige shrugged before she paused "And I just told that to a journalist"

"Off the record" Samara said with a smile as she held her phone up "See"

"Yeah but doesn't mean you won't remember it" Paige shook her head

"Don't worry" Samara said shaking her head "I'm just surprised"

"I'm not that sought after" Paige laughed "I'm happy with my life right now anyway"

"Do you miss having people around you all the time?" Samara asked

"Back on the record?" Paige asked

"Yes" Samara hit record again

"It was difficult because I had people tell me what I could eat and what I couldn't, how long I had to train and everything like

that, then it was gone" Paige replied "But I knew that was going to happen"

"Samara?" She noticed Emily who was now standing next to the table she was sitting at

"Emily Fields" Samara said with a small smile

"Paige, what is going on?" Emily asked

"I'm doing my interview for women's health" Paige shrugged with an oblivious smile

"Of course you decided to take this story and come back here" Emily said rolling her eyes at Samara "You can't help yourself"

"I was just asking Paige here how she hadn't become bored of this place yet" Samara began before she looked Emily up and

down quickly "And the people in it too"

"Wait" Paige said with wide eyes "You're Samara. The Samara…Oh"

"I didn't know you two knew each other" Samara said looking at Paige with a smile

"I have to go" Emily said turning around as quickly as she walked in

"Emily" Paige said as she walked away but she didn't stop.

She followed Emily out of the brew to her car where she fumbled for her keys "Em, wait"

Emily stopped and she turned around with her arms crossed, hostility covering her features

"Em I had no idea it was her" Paige replied shaking her head "If I had, I wouldn't have agreed to the interview"

"Did you not pick it up?" Emily asked

"There is more than one blonde girl in the country named Samara" Paige said honestly "How was I supposed to know that is

was her?"

"I don't know" Emily shook her head with a sigh "I'm sorry…it's the first time I've seen her since we broke up"

"Well I'm sorry you had to, I'm sorry that I'm the reason she's here" Paige replied

"She's here because she wants to be, it has nothing to do with you" Emily said shaking her head "She would have just taken

the story because she saw where you were located"

"You're early" Paige noted as she took a step towards Emily slowly

"I thought I could just wait for you" Emily shrugged

"Well how long can you wait?" Paige asked trying to lighten Emily's mood

"You're going back in there?" Emily asked raising her eyebrow

"Well I can't just walk away from an interview" Paige said shaking her head "No matter who is interviewing me, my manager

worked really hard to get me this and I can't just walk away from it. As much as I would like to now knowing who is

interviewing me"

"Yeah, okay" Emily nodded with a sigh "Just text me when you're done, I'm going to go home"

"Em if I had known it was her before I started I wouldn't have come" Paige repeated "I swear"

"I'll see you later" Emily mumbled as she turned around and walked to her car

Paige hesitated for a moment watching Emily leave but she turned back towards the brew and dragged her feet inside to see

her coffee sitting there waiting with Samara who was making notes with a smile on her face

"You two know each other?" Samara asked as Paige sat back down

"Yeah" Paige nodded "I just want to keep this business okay, then I'm gone""

"Why was she angry?" Samara pushed "Are you two dating or something? Or was she just that unhappy to see me"

"I'm not answering that to you because of your history with Emily let alone you being a journalist" Paige shook her head "I

have been around people like you for a long time, I know how you work. Nothing is ever off the record if it makes a good

story. Frankly though, if I were her, I wouldn't be happy to see you either"

"Maybe you're playing the game more than I am" Samara said raising an eyebrow

"I'm not playing any games" Paige shook her head

"Then why didn't you leave with her?" Samara asked "You planning on making her jealous?"

"I'm being a professional" Paige replied shaking her head "Don't make me regret staying to finish this interview"

Paige wasn't very responsive for the rest of the interview towards Samara but Paige couldn't really go anywhere. They began

packing up and Paige stood quickly, tucking in her chair.

"So tonight, meet back here?" Samara asked

"I don't think that's a good idea" Paige replied shaking her head

"Paige the photographer needs to discuss the shoot for the spread" Samara said "Don't worry, you won't be spending too

much time with me. I will be gone as soon as he gets here. I know you don't like me, which I think is unreasonable but you

didn't just do that interview to quit now"

"Fine" Paige nodded "What time?"

"Meet here at 7" Samara said as she placed her phone in her pocket "See you then"

"Yeah, see you then" Paige mumbled

Instead of texting Emily that she had finished her interview, she went straight to Emily's house, knocking on the door lightly

as soon as she arrived.

Emily opened the door and she paused for a moment when she saw Paige

"I thought it might be better if I come here and beg for forgiveness in person" Paige said shyly

"Paige, you have nothing really to be sorry for" Emily shrugged "I'm the sorry one, I guess I just over reacted to seeing

Samara back"

"If I had any idea Em…" Paige began

"Yeah I know" Emily nodded stopping Paige in her apology "Of course she was given this job to come back here, of course"

"I couldn't really be myself in the interview" Paige commented "Not after finding out she was the one who broke your heart. I

didn't want to give her any leverage"

"I get it, you had to be a professional and I get that" Emily nodded "At least that's done with right?"

"Well…maybe not exactly" Paige replied slowly

"What do you mean?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows, her arms folding again defensively

"Well I have to meet her later with the photographer" Paige said quietly "But only just for like 10 minutes, it's like she wont

even be there. She'll be gone as soon as he gets there"

"She'll make herself known" Emily scoffed

"Emily I'm not sure what you want me to do here. I mean it's not like I knew it was going to be here when I agreed to this

and I can't just quit halfway through this process" Paige said shaking her head with a frustrated sigh "I mean…"

"We're not even dating?" Emily offered, trying to finish Paige's sentence

"Well I was going to say it's not like I want anything to do with her" Paige replied shaking her head "I don't want her at all. Is

this why you're angry at me?"

"Then what do you want, Paige?" Emily asked in a frustrated tone "I don't like games"

"I'm not playing games with you Emily" Paige shook her head as she took a step towards Emily "I have been honest and

truthful with you since I got here. This is a work thing, if you had to defend Holly, I wouldn't think anything of it because it's

your job. I know that I haven't been here that long and we haven't been friends for that long but I have been honest with

you the whole time. I would never try to hurt you"

"This is a different situation. Holly is married, Samara is obviously single and she's trying to make a move on you" Emily said

"Are you serious?" Paige asked clearly beginning to become frustrated herself "Sure, she may be a flirt but I have no interest

in her, what so ever. I didn't even know who she was until you arrived today. I wouldn't have given her a second thought"

"Paige I understand you don't want to rush anything but just don't lead me on okay?" Emily asked "Because I really like you"

"I'm not leading you on, I never would" Paige said shaking her head "I thought that you weren't ready for us to be more than

friends, I thought that you wanted me to wait"

Like clockwork, Paige's phone began to ring and Emily looked down to her feet

"You should get that" Emily said

"Emily" Paige said shaking her head

Without another word, Emily closed her door before Paige could speak again

"Emily" Paige called knocking on the door

Paige looked down to her phone and saw her Manager's name come up on the screen and she frowned

"I hope this is really important" Paige answered quickly

"How did the interview go?" He asked

"It was horrible Jacob" Paige said as she backed away from Emily's door, turning around to face her car "I don't want to go

through with it, I don't want to have to go back and deal with her again"

"Why not?" He asked

"The journalist is a piece of work" Paige said summarizing her issue with Samara

"Well she's a journalist" He said jokingly

"Not helping" Paige replied

"Okay, why don't you just give it one more try when the photographer gets there tonight and then if she is as bad as you say

then you can leave" Jacob said with a sigh "We just worked really hard to negotiate this interview for you and you worked

really hard to get to this place where magazines like Women's health want to interview you"

"I know" Paige said placing her head in her free hand, releasing a loud sigh herself

"Give it another shot" He replied "Just one more shot"

"Okay, I'll call you after" Paige said "Bye Jacob"

"Cya"

Paige looked back to Emily's house with a sigh and she got in her car to leave but not without a lot of hesitation.

* * *

**Right! So what did we think? So I promise that by the end of the next chapter the whole Samara thing will be resolved! Please review! I will have an update in a few days as per usual. **

**Thank you for reading! Have a great Friday eve (that's what I call Thursday anyway...which is what it is here in 30 minutes) **

**Dani :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey All! **

**Hope everyone's having a good weekend. So this is a big chapter! Not really in size so much but importance to this story. I really hope you like it and i would love to know your thoughts at the end! **

**Thank you for all of the reviews, i really do appreciate it every time. I love hearing from you all so please if you do have something to comment, leave a review so i can reply to you :) **

**I should be updating after this one soon, it's a busy week so I'm not sure when i get the chance so might be little longer than usual. I have soccer training, my birthday, work and other exercise sessions i need to get done for the season starts so i will be updating and writing in my spare time! Not a very good excuse but I will try to get it done asap :) **

**Hope you like it :)**

* * *

Emily looked at her phone buzzing once again, Paige was trying to call her for the 3rd time and while she wanted to answer it,

she wouldn't be able to bring herself to do it. She was really conflicted because she didn't know whether she was actually mad

at Paige or whether she was just overly shocked at seeing Samara. She knew that she didn't really have any reason to be

mad at Paige, how was she supposed to know that it was her ex girlfriend? It was the first time she had seen Samara since

she had cheated on her, since she had ben absolutely humiliated by her. She wasn't sure what to do when she saw her at

first, she was shocked but she just froze and felt sick. She knew Samara had come back on purpose, there was no way that it

would have been a coincidence, nothing happens by coincidence in Rosewood and she had been around long enough to know

that.

The problem was that Emily really liked Paige. The problem was that Emily liked Paige more than she really wanted to admit

and when it finally hit her just how much she liked her, she had shut the door on Paige, not letting her explain herself. She

was scared that she realized so quickly what she meant to her so she shut Paige out, it was the only way she knew how to

protect herself.

She looked at a text message sent from Paige and she sighed

'Em just let me explain, please. Let me talk' – Paige

Emily toyed with her phone, looking at the letters, wanting to reply to her but not knowing what to say. She didn't know

what she was going to respond because she didn't know what exactly she was thinking. She was supposed to be shopping

with Paige at that very moment, having a fun time like they always had together. She was almost amazed just how easy it

was to have fun with Paige and how much she had learnt from and about Paige within the weeks she had known her for but

then she remembered that the amazing part of their friendship was just Paige. She was amazed that she could have been

held so high up but her feet were firmly planted on the ground. Emily knew she had acted stupidly, she was jealous, she was

very jealous at that but she knew what Samara was capable of and she figured she had just found Paige, she didn't want

anyone taking that way from her. At the same time, she simply couldn't bring herself to send Paige a text back, she didn't

know what she was thinking let alone what she would say to Paige.

* * *

Paige had tried calling Emily multiple times throughout that whole afternoon after she had left but she hadn't heard from

Emily yet and she hadn't replied to any of Paige's text messages. Paige felt as if she was stuck between a rock and a hard

place, she really liked Emily and she could see that they had their wires crossed but she owed her manager so much and the

least she could do was finish off the interview with Samara. Even if it meant that Emily was going to be mad at her.

"Em…please answer. I'm sorry that I upset you. I want to talk, I swear I would never hurt you on purpose. Okay well call me,

anytime is fine"

Paige let out a sigh of frustration, shoving her phone back in her pocket before pushing the door open sluggishly to the brew

where she spotted Samara sitting at a table by herself. She was grinning as she held her phone up to her ear, hanging up

pretty much as Paige walked through the door. Paige reluctantly moved towards the table, sitting down across from her

without saying a word.

"Glad you could make it" Samara said nodding with a wink "Good move"

"Where's the photographer?" Paige asked tiredly, ignoring Samara's statement

"He's running a bit late, he won't be long though" Samara explained briefly "Do you want anything to eat? My shout so you

can pick whatever you want, I'll even buy dessert too"

"No" Paige replied very quickly "Thank you. I don't plan on being here any longer than I have to be and I told you, I have

dinner plans"

"Your dinner plans would be cancelled by now" Samara replied smartly "Emily was pretty angry at you"

"How do you know I was even going with her?" Paige asked shaking her head

"Well she came here to see you" Samara shrugged "She was waiting for you"

"Look, I just want to be out of here as soon as possible" Paige looking around the brew

"Relax, there is no way Emily will be coming back after she saw me here today" Samara said "You can relax"

"No I can't" Paige mumbled shaking her head as she sunk into her chair, realizing that maybe going back to meet Samara

wasn't such a great idea after all like she had originally thought

"So how did you and Emily meet anyway?" Samara asked

"I really just want to talk about business" Paige replied firmly "We're not friends and we don't know each other so let's not

pretend to and what I do know about you certainly isn't making me like you any more"

"So what version of the story did Emily give you?" Samara asked sighing

"We're not discussing this" Paige shook her head as she looked around for any sign of the photographer "That's not why I'm

here"

"You know she's not so innocent herself" Samara interjected even though Paige didn't want to hear it "Yeah so maybe I

cheated on her in college but if she had been paying half as much attention to me as she did her friend Maya, it could have

ended up a different story, we probably would still be together. I bet she didn't tell you that, huh?"

"Is that why you have it out for her?" Paige asked sitting up in her chair again, her gaze snapping back to Samara as she felt

her temper starting to waiver "Is that why you decided to come back here? To make sure she knows she has to pay for that?

"I don't have it out for her" Samara said shaking her head "I came back because I had to interview you"

"But that would have been one of the reasons you took the job" Paige replied angrily "You wouldn't have been able to help

yourself"

"You don't know me Paige, you only know what Emily has told you" Samara replied "You know her version of the story"

"And that's the only side I'm interested in" Paige mumbled

"You probably think I'm a horrible person but sometimes relationships just wont work out" Samara shrugged "I did love her at

one time. As I said though, we drifted apart because she spent so much time with her friend Maya, I was sure she was

cheating on me and the opportunity arose with her roommate so I took it. We didn't last all that long though"

"So you cheated because you thought she was cheating" Paige said dryly "Just to spite her"

"I'm just telling you my side" Samara replied with her hands up defensively

"All I know is that you broke her heart and I know what it's like for someone to break your heart like that. I don't care about

her friend Maya, if Emily said she was just a friend then she would have been just a friend" Paige explained

"Go ahead and think that" Samara shrugged "Just remember who has known her for longer"

"Is this photographer always late?" Paige asked shaking her head, ignoring her last statement

"Sometimes" Samara replied with a shrug "He's not known for his reliability"

"Great" Paige grumbled folding her arms

"So you and Emily definitely have a thing going on then, right?" Samara asked "I wouldn't blame you, she's beautiful"

"We're not having this conversation" Paige shook her head "I told you"

"So you're single then?" Samara asked

"I guess so" Paige replied nodding

"So you wouldn't mind if I did this then?" Samara asked quickly

Before Paige could react Samara leaned over, pressing her lips to Paige's before Paige even knew what was happening.

She felt absolutely nothing during the kiss and when she registered what was going on, she pushed Samara away, standing

up out of her chair immediately.

"I tried" Paige replied as she shook her head wiping her lips "Tell the photographer not to bother"

"He cancelled this afternoon" Samara replied as she stood up from the table as well

"What?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"He couldn't make it" Samara said shaking her head

"What is wrong with you?" Paige asked "What were you trying to do? Was that fun for you?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Samara asked taking a step towards Paige "Emily doesn't have to know anything, I won't tell her and I'll be

gone by tomorrow"

"Nothing happened" Paige shook her head as she began to back away from the table towards the exit

"Well where do you think you're going?" Samara called out after her "If you leave, forget about the interview and the 4 page

spread. You're not going to get paid for this"

"It's not worth it" Paige replied shaking her head

She got into her car and she ran her hands through her hair, resting her head in her hands for a moment before she pulled

her phone out from her pocket, sending a message to her manager saying that the interview was off and her phone began to

ring almost immediately.

"So what happened?" Her manager asked, skipping a greeting

"She hit on me, she was trying to get into my personal life and on top of everything, she kissed me" Paige replied angrily

"Okay, calm down" Jacob replied "I'll call the magazine and talk to them about her"

"She hardly asked me any relevant questions" Paige explained "She caused problems with Emily"

"Who's Emily?" Jacob asked

"Not the point. I stayed as long as I could but I drew the point at harassment" Paige grumbled

"It's okay, I don't blame you" Jacob replied "I'll call the office on Monday"

"Jacob" Paige warned

"Now, I'll call them now" Jacob corrected himself "You go fix things with this Emily girl, I'd like to know who she is though"

"I'll explain when I know myself" Paige said "Bye Jacob"

Without too much thought, Paige turned her key in the ignition and drove to the place where her mind and body both wanted

to be. She parked, pausing as she looked out the window to the house she had just been at a few hours earlier. Her hands

were sweating and shaking as she fumbled while trying open the door to make her way up the driveway. The only time Paige

had remembered being this nervous was when she was waiting for her last race to be called in London.

She reached the door, pausing to take a deep breath before she began knocking with much more purpose than earlier.

Emily opened the door after a moment though she didn't really look surprised to see Paige standing in front of her but she

was a little confused as to why Paige looked so anxious and bothered.

She opened her mouth to speak but before she could she was beaten by Paige who couldn't seem to stop herself from talking,

like she was going to explode if she didn't get those words out before Emily did.

"I know you probably don't want to see me right now and I understand that but I wanted to explain myself to you and prove

that I wasn't trying to lead you on. I couldn't leave it another second so I had to come here and explain myself right now. I

honestly thought that you just wanted us to wait and be friends for a while, which is great and I loved that because I really

want to get to know you and I feel like I have so far but I would also really love to take you out on a date Emily Fields. I'm

not going to stand here and lie to you about how I don't think you are absolutely stunning, because you are or how I'm not

almost hypnotized anytime you speak, because I am. I haven't been able to get you out of my mind from the moment I saw

you and I thought I was pretty obvious about how I felt about you but clearly I didn't communicate that to you as well as I

wanted to. I need to work on that and I will" Paige explained as she shook her head, her hands were stuffed in her pockets

the moment she began to speak. She paused for a moment, feeling flustered but she continued on "My head is moving too

quickly for my mouth to keep up and I know I'm rushing this but I want to just tell you this before you tell me to go away

again and that you don't want to speak to me. You were right about Samara, she really is a piece of work and you didn't

deserve what she did to you. I walked out on the interview, she kissed me but I pulled away as soon as I knew what was

happening because I realized that I didn't want to kiss anyone but you. I just want a shot Em. I was dumb and I couldn't

form my words around you and say what I wanted to say because what I feel for you, because of the way you make me feel…

it scares me and we haven't even gone out on a real date yet. I'm terrified to think of what I'm going to feel for you if you

actually give me a chance but that's all I want because I think I can handle it"

"Are you done?" Emily asked, finding her voice after a moment of awkward silence between them

"Well…yeah" Paige replied nodding

Emily sighed as she looked to Paige, her eyes averted to the floor and Emily could see her spirit sinking with every moment

that passed by

"Paige" Emily said placing a hand on Paige's cheek .Her eyes shot up, looking at Emily who had a small smile forming on her

features "You could have told me that in the first place, I should have sent something earlier too I guess. I wasn't jealous

because you were spending time with Samara, I was jealous because she was spending time with you…I want to be yours

and I guess I didn't realize I am already, I think I have been for a little while"

"Really?" Paige croaked

Emily nodded but without saying a word, she leaned in to capture Paige's lips with hers in a gentle yet passionate kiss. Their

first kiss to the both of them was perfect. Paige managed to tangle her hand in Emily's hair while her other arm made its way

to Emily's waist as their lips continued to move together in sync with one another's.

They pulled away after a few moments with equally big smiles on their faces, leaning their foreheads against each-others

"I'm sorry" Paige said shaking her head, her voice only just loud enough to be above a whisper "I should have told you that a

while ago and I tried but I just didn't want to pressure you and I couldn't even find the right words"

"You should have" Emily nodded "I should have as well though. I'm sorry I went all crazy earlier, I was going to call you and

apologise but then I saw your car pull up. I guess I was just scared that you were going to see how great Samara was and

somehow you would want her"

"Are we talking about the same Samara?" Paige asked furrowing her eyebrows as she pulled completely away from Emily

"She can be great when she's not acting like she is now" Emily shook her head

"I'll take your word for it" Paige replied nodded "Because she said some pretty interesting things"

"Like what?" Emily asked curiously

"She mentioned someone named Maya?" Paige asked

"Of course" Emily chuckled "She was a friend of mine who I was close with but I never cheated on Samara, she likes to make

excuses for herself"

"So I have learnt" Paige replied

"I guess we're going to need to learn how to communicate a bit better" Emily replied with a small smile

"I'm sorry about that" Paige shook her head "I just didn't want to put pressure on you and ask you out if you weren't ready

for that or anything. I thought I heard you tell Hanna that you didn't want to rush it"

"I was talking about you, I didn't want to rush you" Emily replied

"I guess that's both of our faults then" Paige admitted chuckling "So what are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Nothing" Emily said as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind Paige's ear, causing her to blush slightly "You are so cute, you

know that?"

"Not really" Paige shook her off "Let's start again tomorrow night, have a first date?"

"I feel like we've been on a date before" Emily laughed

"Well seeing as neither of us had the guts to actually call it a date previously, I'm not going to make the same mistake and

ask whether you'll go on a date with me tomorrow night?" Paige asked

"I would love to" Emily grinned

"Great" Paige replied with her eyes shining brightly towards the other girl "I'm kind of glad Samara came by, kind of kicked me

into gear"

"We would have worked it out" Emily shrugged "I almost kissed you outside of the movies the other night"

"I kind of wish you did" Paige replied with a small smile

"I can fix that now"

She pressed her lips to Paige's again, this time gripping Paige's neck as Paige moved her arms around Emily's waist.

"Maybe we should keep that for our date?" Paige asked as she pulled away from the kiss, rested her forehead against Emily's

"Might as well get it out of your system now" Emily joked "I don't kiss on the first date"

Paige laughed, looking down her to feet like she always did for a moment

"Well I hope this isn't why you called me over" Hanna said down the bottom of Emily's driveway

Paige took one step away from Emily to create a little distance between them upon hearing Hanna's voice.

"Don't stop on my accord" Hanna replied shrugging "I've seen Emily kiss a girl before, many actually. Not at the same time

though, she's a one woman gal, you know?"

"I should go" Paige said chuckling "I'll text you about tomorrow night?"

"Sounds good" Emily nodded "I'm glad you came by"

"Me too"

Emily pulled both sides of Paige's shirt, kissing her quickly before she pulled away for a moment

"I feel like I've been waiting a while to do that" Emily spoke quietly

"I know" Paige replied as she slowly backed away slightly dazed from Emily "Bye Em"

"Bye" Emily held her hand out to wave as she watched Paige walk past Hanna with her hands in her pockets once again

"So was this your S.O.S?" Hanna asked

"My S.O.S was that Samara was here and she was interviewing Paige for a magazine" Emily replied shaking her head

"Samara is in town?" Hanna asked before she began cracking her knuckles over dramatically "Okay, where was she last seen

and what was the blonde she devil wearing?"

"Han" Emily warned with a deadpanned expression

"What, I haven't seen her since she dumped you" Hanna said raising her eyebrows "She has to get what's coming to her, this

is my chance"

"It's fine, she just tried to start drama between Paige and I" Emily said as she opened her door for Hanna to come inside "And

turns out that's what Paige and I needed to admit to each other what we needed to"

"So what, are you two together now?" Hanna asked with a wide smile beginning to spread on her face

"More or less" Emily replied "We're going on an official date tomorrow night"

"I'm so excited!" Hanna squealed loudly "We need to pick your outfit, what are you doing?"

"I don't know yet" Emily said placing her hand over Hanna's mouth for a moment "Remember, my house isn't as big as yours

so my neighbours can actually hear you"

"Right" Hanna nodded "It's about time though, seriously, I was about to go tell Paige to hurry up"

* * *

**So what did we think? **

**I'm nervous! I hope you liked it and i hope you don't think i rushed anything. Please review, i would appreciate it.**

**I hope you all have a good rest of your weekend and start to your week! **

**Dani :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi Everyone! I'm back! Thanks so much for all the reviews you guys have left for the last chapter! I'm glad you guys seemed to like it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, much appreciated. Thank you to the guest reviewers as well that I can't reply to personally so I will just say thank you to you guys now :) **

**This chapter is a bit of a long one so hopefully you guys like it! :) I thought I would make their first date a bit of a longer one. **

**I should be updating soon! **

**Let me know what you think when you've finished reading it! :) **

* * *

The next day Paige made her way to Jason's swim school, no classes were actually scheduled but she knew she would find him in there either cleaning up the place

a little or doing some paperwork in the office.

"Do you actually ever leave this place?" Paige asked as she walked through the gate to see Jason cleaning the pool, her hands in her pockets and a smile on her

face.

"I could say the same thing" Jason replied gesturing to the pool "I know you like the water but maybe you should take a break from this place, ever heard of a

work life balance?"

"You can't talk" Paige rebutted quickly "I'm not here every day though"

"So what are you do I owe this pleasure?" Jason asked with a smile as Paige sat down on a plastic chair that was positioned near the edge of the pool

"I wanted to know if I could possibly borrow the pool tonight?" Paige asked hopefully "I'll look after the place and I won't mess it up…plus I'll clean it even more

tonight when I'm done"

"You having a lap session?" Jason asked raising his eyebrow

"Not quite" Paige shook her head "I kind of want to use it for leisurely purposes"

"Of what kind?" Jason inquired

"I have a date with Emily and I wanted to do something different" Paige replied "I mean we already did the whole movie and coffee thing so I thought we could do

something different"

"So you're going to give her a swimming lesson?" Jason asked "How long have you been out of the game for McCullers?"

"I'm not going to give her a swimming lesson" Paige replied rolling her eyes "I said to Emily that I would race her in the pool and I thought for something different

we could do that"

"Interesting concept you have there" Jason nodded

"What? Is that a bad idea?" Paige asked cautiously

"No, I think she'll love it" Jason replied with a chuckle "You do whatever you think she'll like, you seem to be able to read people pretty well"

"I think this will be fun and it'll be different to any other date she's been on" Paige explained with a small smile

"Of course you can use it, just lock up and you're more than welcome" Jason nodded

"Thanks Jason" Paige replied with a grin, standing up from her seat to hit him on the shoulder affectionately "You're the best. I'll see you later"

* * *

Paige's next stop that afternoon was the Hastings household where she was going to see if Spencer was home.

"It's a bit of a strange request asking for a picnic basket" Spencer said raising an eyebrow as Paige stood in the kitchen with a broad smile on her face with her

arms folded

"Yeah I know but I need it for tonight" Paige replied shrugging "Please, I really need to borrow it"

"Of course, anything for romance. You're lucky I want to see you happy with Emily" Spencer joked rolling her eyes "What are you guys going to do anyway?"

"Well I asked Jason if I could use the pool tonight" Paige said "We've been talking about having a race and I thought why not?"

"You're going to beat your date in a swimming race for your first date?" Spencer raised her eyebrows skeptically "Interesting"

"Assuming I beat her" Paige replied shrugging "But I'm going to set up a picnic by the pool and hopefully things are going to go well"

"She's going to love it" Spencer said with a smile "Also, if you don't beat her then I'm going to ask the question of how you managed to win so many medals last

year"

"That was a different time" Paige shrugged

"It was just over 7 months ago Paige, you can't be that different" Spencer shook her head "Anyway, I think you're going to really surprise her with this"

"You think?" Paige asked

"She will love it" Spencer affirmed her best friend "That's actually pretty perfect for you guys"

"I hope so" Paige replied "I don't know, it just feels different with her. I want this to be perfect"

"I can see that" Spencer said with a smile "You're a nervous wreck around this girl. I've never seen you like that with a girl before"

"I am not" Paige denied but even she knew that she was definitely a nervous wreck whenever it came to Emily

"Tell me how you go tonight" Spencer said walking to another room before coming back with the picnic basket

"I will, thank you" Paige grinned "You're the best"

"I am and don't you forget that McCullers" Spencer joked with a grin on her face as she watched her best friend get so excited by the fact that she now had a picnic

basket.

* * *

Emily was curious as to what they were going to do when she received a text from Paige telling her to go to the swim school that night for their date but she also

was excited. Although they had only known each other for a few weeks, she felt like this date had been a long time coming and she knew Paige would be putting a

lot of thought into it, she knew she was going to have a good time.

7:30 finally arrived and when Paige saw Emily pull up outside of the aquatic centre she took a deep breath, this had been a while coming and she wanted

everything to be perfect. She was nervous, even more nervous than usual around Emily because she wanted Emily to have fun. She wanted Emily to have a good

night and she just wanted her to enjoy herself.

Paige had left very few lights on in the aquatic center but she had lit a few candles around the picnic blanket with other blankets and cushions surrounding her

picnic set up; she had gone through quite a bit of effort for their first date.

Emily walked through the gate of the center and pausing when she saw Paige sitting by the pool on the picnic blanket, the light reflecting off of the pool projecting

softly on Paige's features. Emily's heart paused with her body as she saw the smile on Paige's face as soon as she walked in.

"Hey" Emily greeted with a grin as she took in the scene in front of her

"Hey Em" Paige responded quietly and calmly as she patted the spot next to her on the picnic blanket "Come take a seat"

"Picnic by the pool, huh?" Emily asked as she made her way to Paige looking around the silent and empty center "I wondered why you wanted me to meet you

here and bring my bathing suit. I have to say it's kind of beautiful in here at night but maybe that's just because you've set it up so well"

"I thought that maybe if you were up for it, we could have that race later we've been talking about for a little while" Paige shrugged "I thought why not tonight?"

"You just want to beat me" Emily joked playfully "Make this first date a feel good date for you?"

"I want to have some fun" Paige shrugged with a smile "Plus yes, it could help my ego a little. I haven't had a win in a while"

"This looks beautiful" Emily said humbled, suddenly forgetting the joke Paige had just made, sitting down next to her "You didn't have to go to so much trouble"

"I wanted to" Paige shrugged simply "It wasn't that much trouble anyway, it didn't take that long so you don't need to worry about that"

"This is so cute" Emily said with a smile "Is it bad that I've been looking forward to this all day?"

"I have too, I'm not even going to hide it " Paige admitted happily "I'm glad you said yes to this"

"Of course I was going to say yes" Emily spoke honestly

"Really?" Paige asked "Even after the whole Samara thing? That was a bit of a disaster"

"I over reacted, I know that. I was just scared that you were going to see how beautiful Samara was and I knew she would go after you, I can't blame her really"

Emily shrugged

"Have you seen yourself in the mirror though Em?" Paige asked with a chuckle "You are absolutely stunning, beyond that. You literally have not left my head since

I saw you walk through these doors a few weeks ago"

"I know what you mean" Emily replied shyly

"But honestly, I'm not sorry it's taken so long for us to get here because I feel like I know you as a friend which I think is important" Paige smiled "I don't think

we're going to have to worry about finding things to talk about"

"No, I don't think so" Emily shook her head "Plus, with your experiences you're probably one of the most interesting people I have ever met"

"I'm not that interesting" Paige shrugged

"Are you kidding?" Emily asked "You probably have enough interesting stories to tell than all the people I know put together"

"Well I want to hear about you, I'm not a fan of talking about myself" Paige said as she handed Emily a plate and uncovered a huge selection of food on the picnic

mat. She had made everything from salad to desserts and everything in between "How's work going?"

"It's good" Emily said staring at the food for a moment "Of course it would be better if the other lawyers would give me more of a chance but I guess I have to earn

it"

"Should I get something to get sued or something so you can defend me?" Paige asked jokingly "I'd hire you"

"I'd rather prosecute someone, attacking is easier to me" Emily shrugged

"Okay well I could sue someone?" Paige nodded and she commented sarcastically with a chuckle as she joked "Come to think about it, I never really liked all of

those charity events, maybe I can sue them for something"

"I don't know if I'd be able to help you with that one" Emily said laughing at Paige's joke "Though I'm sure some of the others would be happy to"

"A lawyer with a soul huh?" Paige asked as she smirked "Who would have thought those exist"

"You watch yourself" Emily joked knocking her plate on Paige's knee gently

"Start eating on that thing and stop using it as a weapon please. I happen to think that is why I think you'd be a great lawyer anyway" Paige said as she grabbed

some food and looked up to Emily "The better you can understand them, the better you can see where they are coming from and I guess you could build on that"

"I like to think so" Emily nodded "Kind of like how we waited to go on this date I guess. Did you make this all of this food?"

"I might have had some help from Aria today but most of it, I did" Paige said proudly "I had an early morning run so I spent the rest of my day cooking"

"So you went from Olympian to swim teacher?" Emily asked before taking her first bite of Paige's food "What made you do that?"

"Well if I couldn't do it anymore, I wanted to help other people learn" Paige paused "Plus teaching someone to swim could save their life"

"You're really good with the kids, Braxton loves you. He always talks about you for hours after his lesson. I don't know how you got him to respond to you the

other day when he was upset and get him in the pool, I tried everything" Emily sighed shaking her head

"Well he's a pretty great kid, I just had to talk to him and see what was wrong. I used to do events where I did a clinic with kids so I've learnt how to deal with kids

when they're upset" Paige said "And they're not difficult to deal with"

"Well maybe for you" Emily replied

"You seem to do a great job with Braxton" Paige said raising her eyebrow "He adores you, I don't blame him either"

"Well he is a great kid" Emily blushed as she looked to Paige "Are you always this creative with first dates?"

"Only for certain people" Paige joked "Honestly, as I told you before, I haven't been able to go on a date in a while"

"Really?" Emily asked with a chuckle

"You can tell, cant you?" Paige laughed

"I guess we both haven't because we weren't very good at asking each other out" Emily shook her head "It's just that I'm the same as you, I haven't been on a

date since Samara really, I haven't given anyone any time or chances"

"Well I appreciate that" Paige joked "I mean I guess I should thank Samara because she pushed me to admit to you how I felt"

"I wouldn't go so far as thanking her" Emily smiled jokingly

"I would" Paige replied with a grin

"This food is awesome by the way" Emily noted seriously

"Thank you" Paige said

"How did you learn to cook like this?" Emily asked

"Well when I went through training they taught us to cook so we could make nutritional meals for ourselves quickly and still be able to make them healthy" Paige

replied "So you won't have to feel guilty about this meal, it's completely healthy…except for the apple pie but it's as healthy as possible"

"You even made dessert?" Emily asked with an infectious grin

"Only the best for you Miss Fields" Paige joked "I'm glad you're liking it so far though"

"This is fantastic" Emily nodded "This is my favourite first date"

"I've done well then" Paige replied smiling "Wait until I beat you later though"

"So Samara kissed you huh?" Emily asked curiously

"She did" Paige said pulling a face is disapproval as she spoke "She kind of just forced herself on me though. I pulled away as soon as I knew what happened so I

don't know whether I could call it a kiss"

"So what are you doing with the interview then?" Emily asked "Also, I tried to tell you that she was bad news"

"I know, I know" Paige nodded "I'm pulling out of it, it wasn't worth it to me. I didn't want a 4 page spread enough to let her treat me like that"

"But you said your manager worked hard for that?"

"He did and I'll send him something to make it up to him but I wasn't going to put up with that for the sake of an interview" Paige replied with a shake of the head

and smiled towards Emily shyly "I wasn't going to risk you being upset at me over it"

"I shouldn't have done that, I was wrong to put you in that position" Emily replied "I just got jealous and it cost you your interview"

"Actually, her rudeness cost me the interview, you kind of just made it more apparent" Paige shrugged "Honestly don't worry about it"

"I just feel bad because it was none of my business" Emily admitted

"Don't worry about it" Paige repeated waving off Emily's concern

"So you do know I'm going to beat you when we jump in that pool and race, right?" Emily asked smartly

"Hey, I'm not doubting that you might push me" Paige replied looking out to the water in the pool "Might. I think I've got you covered though, something tells me

that I night have this one in the bag"

"Oh really?" Emily laughed raising her eyebrow

"Well some of us are current Olympic champions" Paige said looking between herself and Emily jokingly "Or one of us"

"Okay, if you're so confident…put a medal on the line" Emily offered

"What?" Paige's eyes widened with a smirk

"Yep, put one of your gold medals on the line here in our race" Emily continued "If I win, I get one"

"You're playing possum with me, aren't you?" Paige asked as her lips parted to make way for a wide grin "I bet you're really good"

"Want to find out?" Emily asked boldly, leaning forward towards Paige

"Okay, fine. I'm a confident person when it comes to the pool. You have yourself a deal Miss Fields" Paige shrugged "Don't blow your shot at an Olympic Gold

though because this might be the only chance you ever get"

"It will be the only chance I get" Emily chuckled "I know that for a fact"

"Well I look forward to seeing you back your talk up" Paige replied

"I'm just glad you're willing to put your money where your mouth is" Emily joked

Paige paused for a moment, the smile gradually fading from her face as they stayed silent, chewing their food quietly. The silence wasn't awkward and that's what

Paige had noticed, their silence was never awkward.

"Can I ask something?" Paige asked

"Sure" Emily nodded

"I know this is none of my business and feel free to tell me to just shut up but your friend Maya that Samara was talking about" Paige replied cautiously as she

brought up something that she really knew nothing about "What was the deal with you two? If it's okay that I even ask this"

"Of course it is" Emily nodded "I have nothing to hide"

"No I know that" Paige replied with a sigh "I don't know, I just know that there are always two sides to every story and I heard Samara's…you told me yours…"

"But not as much as Samara told you?" Emily asked

"I'm screwing this up" Paige muttered

"No you're not" Emily said leaning over to place her hand on Paige's leg quickly "It's not a big deal so I'll tell you. Samara and I were together for 6 months before

Maya transferred to my college. She was beautiful, inside and out with a really great personality so we hit it off straight away. We had a few classes together so

naturally we became pretty close friends and I liked my friends to get to know Samara because I thought it was important but they never really saw eye to eye.

Samara was always jealous of Maya as soon as she found out that Maya was bi and Maya didn't like Samara because she thought Samara was so territorial and

selfish. Basically Maya didn't think that Samara was good for me"

"I think Maya might have been onto something" Paige replied with a small smile

"And she was" Emily said with a smile "But I didn't really see it that way when I was with her though, which can probably be said about most relationships"

"Definitely" Paige laughed nodding

"Anyway so I started spending quite a bit of time with Maya because she was doing a video project on the day in the life of a college swimmer. We started to really

get to know each other and Maya admitted that she liked me but she knew I was in a relationship and she made it clear that she would never do that" Emily

explained

"But wasn't that weird?" Paige asked

"Not really because I was head over heals for Samara" Emily shook her head "Samara found out that Maya admitted to liking me and at that point I think she

started cheating on me with my roommate. So that went on for a month or so and Maya could see I was unhappy to the point where she thought I should

confront Samara about it"

"Sounds like she was actually a pretty good friend to you" Paige replied

"She was. She was great all through my break up but after a certain point she got a little less patient, which I understood I guess. I think she was sick of liking me

and not getting anything back from me but I made it clear that I wasn't ready to date again" Emily explained "I asked her to wait but she said she couldn't which

was fine. I didn't think it was going to work between us anyway. She developed a bit of a bad habit of drugs and when we graduated she moved away and I never

heard from her again"

"That's horrible" Paige said with a furrowed brow

"I don't know" Emily said optimistically "I've always thought that people are in your life for a reason. They never overstay their welcome, they're there in the time

that you need them and when you don't need them any longer they leave. Sometimes when they're in your life they might not be there because you need them,

maybe they need you for that time in their life. I needed Maya to get me through the whole Samara thing and when Samara was gone, maybe I didn't need Maya

anymore"

"Emily Fields" Paige said with a sigh, shaking her head in amazement

"What?" Emily asked suddenly becoming self-conscious with her thoughts

"That was probably one of be truest things someone has ever said" Paige said honestly

"That's just how I see things" Emily shrugged

"And I think it's a great way to look at it" Paige nodded before she paused "So why do you think we walked into each others lives then?"

"That's something I don't know yet" Emily smiled "But I'm glad it happened. It's safe to say you came in just as I was ready to start dating again"

"I know what you mean" Paige nodded

They finished dinner, deciding to let their food settle before they both changed and made their way back out to the pool. Emily was out to the pool first, placing her

towel down by the side of the pool. Emily paused as she heard footsteps behind her approaching slowly, she turned to see Paige in her bikini and froze almost

immediately. Emily always knew Paige had a good body but she didn't know just how good it was when she was standing only feet away from her. Paige was

nothing short of toned from head to toe. Her shoulders were solid due to the fact she was a swimmer, her legs were strong and her stomach was flat with her abs

very visible for anyone to see.

"You okay?" Paige asked chuckling as she saw Emily's eyes locked on her abs

"Um" Emily said as she ripped herself out from her thoughts "Yeah..."

"Is something wrong?" Paige asked looking down at herself "I know, this bikini is pretty ugly"

"Paige, nothing about what you are wearing is ugly" Emily said quickly to save Paige from her self doubt "Nothing about you could ever be associated with the word

ugly. You just kind of stunned me when you walked out"

"Well you're pretty stunning yourself" Paige smiled softly "Now I didn't know I was swimming for a medal tonight so I didn't bring my proper swimsuit but I'm sure

I could find one around here somewhere if we wanted to be completely serious"

"Personally I just think Olympians should swim like this all the time" Emily nodded jokingly

"I can't guarantee that we would actually get in the pool if that was one of our conditions" Paige joked "Though these are easier to get in and out of than our

normal suits"

"I'll bet" Emily nodded

Paige smiled while she nodded again and she found herself doing the exact same thing Emily had done to her moments ago, she couldn't help but look at Emily's

perfectly toned stomach, smooth olive skin and perfect legs.

"What?" Emily observed shyly as she saw Paige look away as soon as she realized she was staring

"You're pretty perfect, you know that?" Paige blurted out before she realized what she said

"Thank you but I'm far from it" Emily said shaking her head "You ready to go?"

"Always" Paige nodded as she stepped towards the starting blocks "Are you sure you want to do this? It could hurt your ego a little…or a lot"

"I'm just wondering how quickly you can get my new medal to me" Emily shrugged "I mean will you post it to me or just give it to me? Does it come in a box?"

"Slow down there Miss America" Paige joked using the nickname she called her a while ago "You can think about what could have been when you lose"

"You know I was a pretty big deal around here when I swam" Emily joked as she stood on the blocks next to Paige who also stepped onto her starting block

"Okay, you can count us in" Paige said as she crouched, getting in position to dive into the pool "We'll let you have the advantage"

"Kind of bizarre that I'm racing Paige McCullers the 9 time Olympic gold medalist" Emily said a she became caught up in the moment "I watched your last race and

I was amazed by your determination"

"Don't get all sentimental on me now, we can talk about that later" Paige joked as she focused on the water ahead of her "On your mark"

"Go" Emily called quickly as she jumped in the pool

"Hey!" Paige called before making a quick jump into the pool after Emily

Emily was fast but she wasn't Paige fast so needless to say Paige's medal was safe, even when Emily took off a little before Paige. Paige found herself catching up

reasonably quickly but she had to give Emily some credit, she was fast and her stroke technique was excellent.

"You're a cheat" Paige said in between breaths laughing as Emily touched in a few lengths behind Paige "I'll hand it to you though, you're pretty good Emily Fields"

"Well I kind of figured it was the only shot I had" Emily laughed "Thank you for that"

"I'll beat you any day" Paige shrugged before Emily splashed some water in her face "Sore loser"

"That was fun" Emily said chuckling

Paige moved herself to lean on the lane rope towards Emily quickly, stealing a kiss from the girl next to her

"You must have been a good swimmer in college" Paige nodded "Why didn't you progress it further?"

"I didn't know that I should have" Emily shrugged with a grin as she pressed her lips to Paige's once more

"You're good" Paige nodded as she pulled away from Emily "I'll give you that"

"At least I can say I was in an Olympic Gold Medal race" Emily playfully replied

"Exactly" Paige replied "And you did well"

It was getting late so Paige decided she was going to clean up while Emily was getting changed again, though not without protest from Emily because she wanted

to help clean up. Paige wouldn't allow it seeing as she said she was the one who made the mess in the first place and she was the one who asked Emily out on the

date. Paige put some old clothes over her bikini when Emily was ready so she could walk her out to the car.

Once they reached Emily's car they both paused, neither wanting to make the first move to say goodnight

"Thank you for tonight" Emily said turning around to face Paige again as she leaned up against her car "I had a great time, you planned a really perfect first date"

"I'm glad, I sure did" Paige said before she paused for a moment with a smile "Have a good time that is"

"I know what you meant" Emily chuckled shaking her head "You are a dork, you know that?"

"I know" Paige nodded in defeat

"But you're cute" Emily admitted quickly

"Maybe we can do something like this again soon?" Paige asked with a hopeful smile "I kind of hope we can do things like this often"

"I would love that" Emily nodded "Are we on for a run tomorrow morning?"

"I think so, yeah" Paige replied "You sure your ego can take two bruising's in a row? I'll take it easy on you tomorrow"

"Meet same time?" Emily asked "And don't take it easy on my account"

"Yep" She confirmed with a quick nod

"Now I said I don't kiss on the first date but" Emily began before she was cut off by Paige who cupped Emily's cheek gently in her hand as she captured Emily's lips

in a kiss. She felt Emily smile against her lips briefly before she returned the kiss with some enthusiasm. Paige pushed Emily back slightly against the car, her other

hand moving to Emily's hip while Emily moved her arms to dangle over Paige's shoulder.

"I'm glad we made an exception" Paige replied grinning, her nose rubbing Emily's as she nodded "I think we broke that in the pool anyway"

"Good night Paige" Emily said happily

"Night Em" Paige replied as she backed away from Emily reluctantly, placing her hands in her back pockets while she watched Emily get into her car.

Paige waved when Emily drove away, smiling one of the biggest smiles she had ever had formed on her lips as she looked to the ground while walking back into the

swimming center. That night was perfect and their first date was perfect.

* * *

**So what do we all think? Please review and let me know what your thoughts are about this chapter! I should be updating soon! **

**From here I'm going to skip forward just a tiny bit, I just need to get another part of the story moving but it won't be skipping much time at all. **

**Hope you are all having a good weekend so far!**

**Dani :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi all :) Hope you're having a good week so far! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it's always appreciated. I have said this before but I'm really interested to see what you guys think about the story and the direction it's going. Thank you for those who are always consistent and giving me their feedback. **

**So I hope you guys like this chapter, nothing of huge significance but it's an important back story for Paige for something that may or may not pop up later in the story. Also starting from the next chapter a few things are going to happen, it's going to start getting interesting in Rosewood and the secondary storyline is going to start so please be patient with me and hang on after this chapter. I will even have it up in a day or two if you guys are kind and review. **

**Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm nervous about this one too. Please review! I would appreciate it! **

* * *

3 months had passed since Paige and Emily's first date and things were going very well for the two girls. They were starting to settle into a relationship after Paige

asked Emily to be her girlfriend after they had been out on a few more dates and had gotten to know each other that little bit more. They had gotten into a routine

of staying over each other's houses and the first time Emily entered Paige's house she was amazed at how large it was but she was more so impressed with what

was inside her house. Paige had a photo of herself with the president who she met when she returned home from London and memorabilia that people had given

her from the London Olympics. Paige's spread in women's health fell through due to Samara but as far as Paige was concerned, she didn't care all that much about

it. She had been helping the Sharks swim team to achieving the best results they had achieved in a long time and they were well on their way to making the state

meet.

Today Paige decided she would go meet Emily for lunch, things had been busy for the both of them so she thought she would go in and surprise her girlfriend with

lunch so she picked up a rose on the way to Emily's office and she arrived to Veronica's law firm with a cheesy smile on her face to match. She held the rose in one

hand and kept the other in her pocket as she approached the receptionist.

"Paige" She said with a small smile and Paige continued to grin

"Hey" Paige replied politely to the girl

She had been into the office a few times to see Veronica before and she had gone in and seen Emily a few times so people were familiar with her in the office but it

had become common knowledge around town that Paige and Emily were in a relationship and news travels very quickly in a small town.

"Here to see Emily or Veronica?" She asked eyeing the rose in her hand "Judging by that, I'm going to say Emily"

"Yeah, is she at her desk right now?" Paige asked "She wasn't expecting me so I don't know her schedule today"

"She should be, go on in and have a look" She nodded "It's a nice rose by the way"

"Thanks" Paige chuckled shyly before she made her way through the office

She could never get used to Veronica's law firm, it was such a big and busy place filled with people who always seemed to be on the go and Emily was no different.

Paige approached the row of desks located near Veronica's office where she found Emily sitting at her desk with the phone to her ear on a call.

Paige waved mouthing 'hello' to her, placing the rose on her desk and Emily looked up with a bright smile as she tried to concentrate and carry on the conversation

she was having over the phone. After skipping a quick beat she said goodbye to her client, hanging up the phone as quickly as she could manage.

"I wasn't expecting you" Emily smiled as she stood to kiss Paige quickly

"I thought I would drop in" Paige shrugged "Maybe see if you had eaten lunch yet?

"It just so happens that I haven't" Emily replied playfully

"Well can I interest you in a lunch date?" Paige asked hopefully "I will sweeten the deal and pay"

"Sounds great" Emily said reaching down under her desk to get her bag "I need to get out, this office is driving me crazy today. There's too much going on"

"You love it though" Paige replied as she took Emily's hand gently, lacing her fingers with her olive skinned beauty

"I do" Emily nodded as she skeptically looked at Paige "Most days"

They settled in at a café across the road once they had ordered their food, sitting down outside, Emily pulled her chair over so she could be closer to Paige which

made the other girl smile at the gesture.

"I thought you were at school all day today" Emily said, glancing down at her food so she could unwrap her lunch

"Well I was going to stay there but I thought I could get out of there for a half an hour before I go back" Paige shrugged with a small smile "I needed a bit of a

break too"

"Do the girls have training this afternoon?" Emily asked as they began eating their lunch

"Yeah, they're being worked really hard" Paige noted "Actually I was looking at the records at the last meet; someone broke your 100m freestyle record"

"Hey that was standing for a while" Emily shrugged before she joked "I imagine someone's going to break your Olympic records one day"

"Ouch, that stings Fields" Paige laughed quietly "So what are the plans for the weekend?"

"Well I needed to speak to you about that" Emily said leaning over to place a hand on Paige's leg

"I have a feeling this could be bad?" Paige said flinching slightly at Emily's words

"Why would it be bad?" Emily asked with a small smile

"Because when you say something like that, sounds like it's bad news" Paige replied still unsure of what was going on

"Well I've probably been speaking too much about you around my parents because they really want to meet you" Emily said quietly "And if you don't want to, if

you're not ready for that then that is fine. We could do something else this weekend, I just thought I would put it to you and see what you said. No pressure"

"Your parents?" Paige croaked softly

"You okay?" Emily asked awkwardly "You kind of drained of all colour, I said no pressure"

"No Em I would really love to meet them but I just hope they like me" Paige replied shaking her head "What if they don't like me? What if I say something wrong?

It's important that they like me"

"You're not going to say anything wrong, you're just meeting them Paige. It's not like you're asking for their permission to marry me or anything" Emily chuckled

quietly

"I know that but…I mean we both agree that we want this to last a while, us…and what happens if they don't like me?" Paige asked shaking her head "I know how

important they are to you, if they don't like me then we have no chance"

"Exactly, which is why you're going to be perfect. You always are so you have nothing to worry about" Emily said rubbing Paige's leg reassuringly "How could

anyone not like you anyway?"

"Thanks" Paige responded as she tucked some loose hair behind her ear before she continued bravely "Okay, when are they free?"

"You sure?" Emily asked ducking her head to meet Paige's averted eyes

"I'm sure" Paige said a little more encouraged to the idea

"Actually they have been wanting to meet you for a while but I thought I would leave it for a little bit" Emily admitted nodding

"So now they think I'm avoiding them?" Paige asked, her eyes widening with concern "Great"

"Paige, it's okay" Emily laughed "You're cute when you get all worried"

"I just want to make a good impression. What should I wear? What will we be doing? Should we be going in separate cars? Do I need to bring anything?" Paige

began asking very quickly

"Okay, we're going to start by taking a deep breath" Emily said with wide eyes as she reached over to grab Paige's hand to stop her speaking

"No, I just talk a lot when I get nervous" Paige shook her head "And by a lot i mean heaps"

"Paige, you met the president…I think you'll be okay with my parents" Emily replied with a concerned look on her face "Let's put this into perspective"

"I want to impress them more than anyone" Paige replied shyly after pausing for a moment

"I told you that you're cute" Emily said proudly as she leaned over to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek softly. Paige's eyes closed as Emily's lips made contact with her

cheek but slowly opened them again once Emily had pulled away

"So this weekend, meeting your parents?" Paige asked as she let out a deep breath "I can do that"

"Yeah, you can do it" Emily nodded "I'll find out a time that works with them and I'll let you know"

"Sounds good to me" Paige nodded in agreement as she tried to convince herself she would be fine

"What about your parents?" Emily asked simply "You haven't really spoken too much about them…or at all really"

"What about them?" Paige asked furrowing her eyebrows, her tone already defensive at the first question about them

"Do I get to meet them?" Emily asked a little more cautiously noting Paige's change in her voice

"You want to meet them?" Paige replied shaking her head "Why?"

"You're meeting mine" Emily shrugged harmlessly "I just noticed that you don't really speak about your parents, that's all"

"It's a long, complicated story" Paige replied with a sigh "Can we talk about it another time?"

"Is everything okay?" Emily asked, her voice laced with concern at the sudden mood change in Paige

"Everything is fine, it has been for a while" Paige said shortly as she looked away from Emily for a moment "I kind of just want to focus on meeting your parents

first"

"Okay" Emily nodded, deciding to give up getting any kind of explanation of Paige's family for now but she made a note to ask her about it later "Another time

then"

* * *

They finished up with lunch and Paige headed back to Rosewood high to finish off her work, she was in her own head about the conversation she had just had with

Emily and she wasn't sure what to do about it.

So she decided that she would do the one thing she knew how to do when she was confused.

Go bug Spencer about it.

She changed her direction and made a beeline to Spencer's office, where she saw her friend sitting at her desk while she completed paperwork.

Without even knocking Paige pushed the door completely open so she could walk in, only to close the door and lock it behind her before sitting down in front of her

desk.

"Well come on in" Spencer joked as she looked up from her paper work to her bothered looking friend sitting in front of her

"She wants to know about my parents" Paige said without even bothering to say hello "She wants to _meet_ my parents"

"Well that is natural, I would be worried if she didn't want to" Spencer replied nodding

"Well she asked if I wanted to meet her parents this weekend" Paige explained as she leaned forward in her chair "And I'm so excited to meet them but they sound

like the perfect family and I don't even know how to explain my situation with her. I don't even know where to start"

"First of all; that's great about you meeting her parents, they're great and you'll get along" Spencer said with a smile "And her family is not perfect, no one is

perfect. I bet if you told her that she would say the exact same thing"

"Okay, maybe not perfect but close to compared to mine" Paige shook her head "I mean even yours is close to perfect compared to mine and you guys are

dysfunctional at the best of times"

"Hey" Spencer said faking distain "I'll have you know we consider you as a part of that dysfunctional family so you're in part the problem then. I mean in the office

at home they have trophies of mine and Melissa's and then they have a framed memorabilia piece of yours so I think you're probably the favourite. Mom hasn't

stopped talking about you since you got back, I'm starting to plan a long holiday for you so she stops because it's starting to get old"

"What do I do Spence?" Paige asked shrugging off Spencer's jokes with a very confused tone

"You just tell her the truth" Spencer offered seriously as she sensed Paige's mood "You tell her that you don't speak to them because they tried to exploit you. Tell

her the truth"

"So I tell her that my parents left me with my grandparents one day and then never came back because they didn't want me anymore but came back when I was

scouted and getting sponsored after I started winning so they could ask me for money?" Paige asked perplexed "I mean it sounds like I'm making it all up"

"But you're not" Spencer explained with a quiet sigh "That's what happened and sadly that's your life"

"I hate remembering that" Paige said rubbing her eyes in frustration "I mean why was I so dumb to give them that money?"

"Paige, they're your parents, you helped them even when you didn't need to" Spencer said shaking her head with a sad smile "You did nothing wrong, you were

just being kind"

"I'm just glad you guys were there" Paige said shaking her head and she chuckled darkly "I don't know what I would have done"

"You would have been fine, you're our family though" Spencer nodded "Are you nervous about meeting her parents?"

"Of course I am" Paige replied nodding quickly "I mean I just want them to like me, they're obviously really important to her and I really want to make it work with

her"

"They'll love you" Spencer nodded again "Don't worry"

"I'm nervous to tell her about my parents too, I didn't even tell Holly about them" Paige admitted

"Well she was too conceded to ask" Spencer muttered rolling her eyes

"I just feel like it's different with Emily" Paige shrugged "Ignoring your snipy

"I'm sure it is" Spencer said "You two have been so happy ever since you got together, it was about time too. Aria and I were thinking about teaming up with

Hanna and making it happen"

"Glad it didn't come to that" Paige joked "Thank you for listening to that"

"Any time" Spencer shrugged

"I guess I should work up the courage to tell Em about all this" Paige replied "Before she starts to think that I don't want her to meet them for no good reason"

"I guess so" Spencer agreed

Paige made her way out to her office in the gym faculty area, her desk was an organised mess with paper spread out all over it but she knew where everything was

so it was easy for her to find what she needed. She picked up her phone as she clicked on Emily's name to call before placing her phone to her ear.

"Miss me already?" Emily asked jokingly as she answered

"Hey" Paige grinned as her girlfriend spoke, speaking to her just seemed to make problems move to the back of her mind "I might but that isn't why I called"

"Well what can I help you with Miss McCullers?" Emily asked, a smile on her face was also evident in her tone

"What are your plans tonight?" Paige asked "I know you mentioned that you might be going out to a work dinner but I was wondering if you could skip that and I

could make you dinner?"

"What's the catch?" Emily joked

"No catch. I know I kind of brushed you off earlier so I kind of wanted to tell you a bit about my family, it's not that I don't want you to meet them…" Paige trailed

off quietly

"I know" Emily responded calmly "It's okay Paige"

"Come to my house tonight?" Paige asked again "Whenever you finish work tonight"

"Okay, sounds great" Emily replied "Want me to bring anything?"

"I'll have to covered, bring yourself" Paige said simply "Have a good rest of your day Em"

"Thanks babe" Emily returned "You too"

Paige moved the phone from her ear with a small smile, she knew telling Emily about her family was the right thing to do and she knew she could trust Emily with

that information.

* * *

She returned home that afternoon after she finished what she had to do for the day at school, the meet was only 2 days away so the girls had a light session and

would be having a team meeting tomorrow which Paige also had to prepare for. She figured though she would work on that tomorrow and try and deal with

explaining her family situation with Emily. She began cooking dinner, setting the table up nicely and lighting some candles for Emily when she arrived. Once she

had finished setting up, like clockwork, Emily knocked on the door quietly.

They sat down for dinner, discussing some small talk about how the rest of their day was and what case Emily was currently working on. Once they finished eating

Paige decided they could have dessert on the couch watching a movie like they loved to spend their nights with each other. Emily leaned her head on Paige's

shoulder, Paige leaning her head on top of Emily's while she wrapped her arm around Emily's shoulder as she had her bowl on her lap, eating with her right hand.

"This is how every day should end" Emily said looking at the T.V. "Great home cooked meal, trashy T.V. and you, what more could a girl want?"

"I didn't know that you liked trashy T.V." Paige chuckled as she turned her head to press a kiss into Emily's hair

"Guilty pleasure" Emily shrugged with a smile "You can blame Hanna for that; I got into these kinds of shows because she watches them all the time"

"Don't you try and blame your friend for that" Paige joked as she put her bowl down on the coffee table in front of her "So I'm excited to meet your parents on the

weekend"

"I was thinking Saturday for brunch?" Emily asked "Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, whatever works" Paige agreed "I'll be there"

"I'm thinking that I'll come here and get you" Emily replied with a slight shrug "I think you might be a little too nervous and distracted to drive"

"Thanks" Paige smiled "You're probably right"

"How did you go with your nerves before a race?" Emily asked

"I almost threw up every time" Paige answered honestly with a shrug "Racing is different"

"Yeah, it's worse" Emily said sitting up as she placed her bowl next to Paige's on the table and turned to face Paige, moving her legs over the other girls' while she

shuffled closer to Paige's side

"Well you don't have to go through it so you don't need to worry about it" Paige shook her head

"Did you want to talk about that?" Emily asked "Because you don't have to tell me until you want to but I can tell you kind of want to say something"

"I'll tell you" Paige said shrugging "It's almost embarrassing considering you have a such a great family, you guys are practically perfect"

"We are not perfect Paige" Emily shook her head "Every family has their issues and we have ours but we've managed to work through them"

"Not like mine" Paige replied raising both her eyebrows "I've never really told anyone about this but Aria and Spencer, I didn't even tell Holly about it because I hate

talking about it so much"

"Okay well I appreciate you trusting me" Emily said nodding as she leaned forward, reaching over to cup Paige's cheek in her hand "Nothing you say will leave this

room, I promise"

"I know" Paige spoke softly, just above a whisper as she relished the feeling of Emily's hand on her cheek "I've never really mentioned them because I don't speak

to them, in fact I don't even know where they are"

"Okay" Emily nodded as she moved her hand from Paige's cheek to rest on her knee

"When I was 8 they decided that I was too much work so they went on a trip, which was supposed to be for 2 days and they left my with my grandparents but

they never came back. My grandparents tried contacting them but they wouldn't answer so my grandparents raised me until I was 14 when I was recruited and

went to San Francisco. They both passed away within a year of each other when I was 21 and 22 so I was just getting into the headspace that I really had a shot

at the Olympics so that was a huge hit for me at that point. I had no one left, I had no family" Paige explained with a sad smile

"Paige" Emily said sympathetically as the look on Paige's face was enough to break Emily's heart

"So once I had made a name for myself, winning national titles, gaining sponsorships I became more known and people really started to take note of me and people

other than my coaches started to realize that I had a good chance at Olympic gold. I got a call one day from a woman who was claiming to be my mother, I'm not

sure how she got my number but she did anyway and she said she had heard about my grandparents passing away so she wanted to see me. I decided I would

meet up with her to see if she was for real and it turns out she was. She was excited to see me and she looked like me, I look more like my father though who was

there as well. It was awkward at first but they stuck around for 2 weeks and it was great…it was great until my mom told me that she needed to get surgery on

her hip and she needed to borrow some money for medical bills. When she first told me, alarm bells kind of went off in my head but she was so sad and I really

thought she needed the money so I let her borrow it" Paige croaked quietly "I should have listened to my gut"

"How much money did she ask for?" Emily asked furrowing her eyebrows

"About $5000" Paige replied with a sigh "It's actually pretty humiliating"

"It's not, you were being the kind person you are" Emily said "What happened after that?"

"I went to have lunch with them the day after I gave them the money and they didn't show up. I thought they were late or something so I waited for about 2

hours before I went back to the hotel that they were staying at. Apparently when I spoke to the concierge they had checked out the night before and the phone

number she gave me to call her was disconnected" Paige recounted with a bitter smile "And I haven't heard from them since. I don't want to hear from them ever

again because as far as I'm concerned, I have no parents. I have no family but my grandparents and the Hastings"

"Paige I'm so sorry that happened to you" Emily said sympathetically, leaning over to place a gentle but lingering kiss on her cheek "Did you do anything legally to

get your money back?"

"It wasn't worth the stress that it put on me as a 22 year old let alone a 22 year old training to be in the Olympic swim squad. I just really don't know how they

slept that night knowing that I had given them money in good faith, because they were my biological parents and they just took off with it" Paige shook her head

with a shrug "It took me a long time to get over that"

"I can't even imagine" Emily replied, leaning her forehead on Paige's temple. Needless to say emily felt helpless in the situation and all she could do was comfort

her girlfriend and let her know she was there for her

"It's okay Em" Paige shook her head

"It's not okay" Emily replied "They're supposed to protect you, they are your parents"

"I know that" Paige nodded briefly "I guess for a while I kind of took a period for me to get back to what I was before. I think half the reason why my shoulder was

so torn was because I pushed myself so much to kind of forget what happened. It was tough, I'm not going to lie or sugar coat it, I had a really tough period of my

life then. I spoke to Spencer about it and the Hastings really helped me out, they even came and stayed with me in San Fran for a week while I was training to

support me. I can't ever thank them enough and I don't think I will ever be able to. Veronica protected me like only a mother can and she made sure nothing like

that could happen again. She made sure that they can't even contact me legally anymore"

"I'm glad that they were there for you" Emily nodded

"Me too" Paige said as she took a deep breath and expelled it slowly "So that is my family, charming bunch the McCullers are. The only reason why I keep my last

name is because that was my grandparents last name as well otherwise I would have changed it. I kind of thought I deserved it for keeping the last name. That's

why you can't really meet them"

"Paige, why would anyone deserve that?" Emily shook her head

"Because no one really paid attention to me until my swimming started to become my life and it became clear that I was really going somewhere with it" Paige

shrugged "That success just brought them out of the shadows"

"You know all that stuff means nothing to me right? If you didn't have the medals and the sponsorships I would still be with you" Emily said firmly

"I know" Paige said with a small smile "You're one of the best things I have though. Maybe even better than my Olympic silver"

"Well what about your gold?" Emily joked

"We'll talk later about that one" Paige replied playfully, feeling Emily cheering her up almost instantly "Thank you for listening to all of that drama"

"Thank you for telling me" Emily shrugged

"Can you stay tonight?" Paige said in a voice that was just above a whisper, Emily had never seen Paige sol vulnerable "I don't think i want you to leave"

"I would love to" Emily nodded

* * *

**So i know it wasn't my best work nor was it the most interesting chapters but i promise that I will soon make up for that! Next chapter Paige is going to meet Pam and Wayne as well as me trying to get the ball rolling for the rest of the story. **

**Please let me know your thoughts. **

**Have a great Friday eve (Thursday)/Friday depending on where you are. **

**Also, for people who miss Paige on PLL...I feel your pain. Hopefully she's back next week in the finale! **

**Dani :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi guys! Hope you're all having a good week! What did everyone think of the PLL finale?! Hopefully the next few months can fly by so we can see some Paily very soon. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, much appreciated. Thank you to all of the guest reviewers as well, i really appreciate you guys making the effort to review. I tend to update a bit quicker if i have more reviews. Just wanted to make this note and i wont ever say it again but i kind of just wanted to say if you don't like my story or how it's written...don't read it. Simple as that. I'm not forcing anyone to read this. I know I'm not the best writer and i know that my punctuation isn't the best but all I'm doing is just trying to get a decent story out for people to enjoy. Give me feedback that is constructive and I don't mind but it isn't really necessary to be rude. **

**Anyway...Now that I have that off my chest! Hope you like this chapter. Things are about to pick up.**

* * *

Paige was standing proudly by the pool as she watched the mighty Rosewood Sharks start their swim meet. They had been pretty dominant throughout the whole

season and she knew they were only a few wins away from booking their rightful place in the state final. First; they had to take out the county meet, which was what

their task ahead of them that night.

The previous night Paige and Emily had fallen asleep in each-other's arms after Paige had told Emily about her family situation. It meant the world to Emily that Paige

was willing to share her story with her when Paige hadn't told many people about what had really happened.

"Okay, so let's just concentrate on our times. Don't worry about what is happening the lanes next to you; keep up your time and your stroke because that'll handle

itself. Make sure of your finish; make the touch firm. Make sure you push off early on your turn and breathe deeply when you get the chance" Paige said crouching in

front of the relay team "These teams are good but I'm telling you that you're better. Don't let them try and intimidate you. They beat you last year at this point but

you've gotten stronger, show them"

The girls all nodded nervously before they walked over to the marshalling area to be sorted in their lanes.

"You know, you're good at giving a pep talk" Emily said as she tapped Paige on the shoulder

"Em" Paige said with a surprised smile "I didn't know you were coming"

"Of course I was going to come" Emily replied leaning over to peck Paige on the lips "How are we going?"

"Good" Paige nodded with a sigh as she looked out to the pool "The girls are nervous because this relay is important…as you know former miss anchor"

"Who's anchoring?" Emily asked looking towards the team

"Short brown hair" Paige gestured to the girl, who luckily hadn't put her swimming cap on "She'll need a strong performance but these girls can create enough distance

before her so she doesn't have to do so much work""

"Well I'll leave you to it" Emily said with a smile "Are you still staying over my house tonight?"

"I am" Paige nodded before she pointed to the bleachers "Spencer's over there if you want someone to sit with"

"Thanks" Emily replied before she backed away to find a spot next to Spencer

"Paige" One of the coaches called

The sharks not only won the meet; they ended up beating the previous relay record by 3 seconds, which was huge for the team. This also meant that in a few weeks

they would be competing for a place in the state final. Paige went to Emily's straight after the win; where they soon found themselves wrapped up in each other, lying

on the couch as they watched a movie.

"They swam so well tonight" Paige said with a smile as she watched the T.V. "That's why it's worth all the work and the research"

"You were really good with them" Emily agreed "You're a great coach and you're really good with your kids"

"I know what it's like on the other side so I guess I know what they need to hear and what they need to learn" Paige shrugged as she moved her gaze to Emily "At

least I know that the kids responded well"

"You did a great job" Emily grinned

"Thanks" Paige replied placing a quick kiss on Emily's temple "You know, this has become a bit of a routine for us"

"What has?" Emily asked as she half concentrated on the T.V.

"Us… just sitting here and watching a movie" Paige whispered as she kept her face close to Emily's ear with a playful smile

"Did you want to go out more or something?" Emily turned her head to face Paige with a quizzical look "Because I thought we had a good balance"

"Em, calm down" Paige laughed shaking her head "I love it and I love being able to spend this time with you and be normal. I guess I've kind of always wanted to be

normal and have a normal relationship"

"You wanted to be normal?" Emily asked with a small smile "You were out there winning Olympic gold medals…you're an Olympian. What are you doing in a normal

relationship?"

"I've always wanted this" Paige replied stealing a kiss from Emily

"So are you ready to meet my parents?" Emily asked curiously

"Yes" Paige lied with a grin as she looked away from Emily's close gaze

"You're going to need to be a better liar if you want to convince my parents that you're mentally stable" Emily joked

"Hey" Paige said nudging Emily playfully

"You know that my dad is automatically going to like you because he is in the Army and you're an all American national hero" Emily said trying to reassure her girlfriend

"And my mom will love you because you can cook"

"Okay" Paige tried to reassure herself "They're going to love me"

"Yes they are" Emily nodded as well "Just turn on that Paige McCullers charm"

The next morning Emily drove herself and Paige to her parents' house. Paige was nervous as she clung onto Emily's hand in the passenger seat but Emily simply

stroked the back of Paige's hand with her thumb to try and calm her down.

"You know I don't understand how you can be so nervous about this but you were calm enough to win Olympic medals" Emily said shaking her head

"That's different" Paige replied quickly

Emily soon pulled up in front of her parents' house, placing her car into park before undoing her seat belt to completely turn to Paige.

"Don't be nervous" Emily said calmly "They're going to love you"

"Okay" Paige nodded as she reaffirmed herself

Once at the front door; Emily knocked but didn't wait for a response before she walked in, tugging Paige in behind her with their joined hands.

"Mom? Dad?" Emily called as she closed the door behind Paige

"In the kitchen" They heard Emily's mom call out quickly

Emily heard Paige take a deep breath and Emily turned quickly to give Paige a reassuring smile along with a squeeze of her hand before they entered the kitchen

"Hey mom" Emily greeted with a smile as she released Paige's hand to hug her mother

"Hi sweetie" Pam replied happily as she hugged Emily

"Where's dad?" Emily asked before she pulled out of the tight hug

"He's on his way home from the grocery store" Pam said with a smile "I forgot I needed eggs"

"Mom, this is Page" Emily introduced her girlfriend as she stood next to her again "Paige, this is my Mom"

"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Fields" Paige said with a polite smile

"Call me Pam" She replied warmly as she approached Paige to hug her quickly "And it's nice to finally meet you. Emily talks about you a lot"

"Mom" Emily warned with a smile

"It's okay, you're allowed to talk about her" Pam shrugged "Paige I hope you don't mind simple food like sandwiches and pastries. I'm not really sure what the rules of

brunch are but I tried to incorporate a bit of both"

"Anything is great thank you" Paige replied "I hope you didn't go to too much trouble"

"Paige, please call me Pam" Pam repeated with a smile

"I'm sorry, I was just always brought up to do that" Paige said with an embarrassed smile "Kind of habit"

"Well you're very well mannered" Pam replied "Why don't we go into the lounge room while we wait for Emily's dad"

"Will he be long?" Emily asked

"No, he shouldn't be long at all" Pam said "In fact, I have some scones baking. Why don't you go show Paige the house and I'll call you down when he gets here"

"Okay" Emily nodded as she reached out to take Paige's hand again "Come on, I'll show you upstairs?"

Paige nodded so they headed up the stairs until they reached Emily's room.

Emily pushed the door open, walking backwards to face Paige as she pulled her into the reasonably sized bedroom.

"This is nice" Paige replied looking around "Oh, you have a window seat! I've always wanted one of those"

"Why didn't you buy a house with one?" Emily asked

"This is going to sound weird but the house I bought was actually the house that my grandparents lived for a while before I moved away" Paige replied taking in

Emily's room "I changed it a little, renovating it to look a little nicer but I really wanted to come back to that house"

"You've never told me that before" Emily shook her head, keeping her gaze on Paige

"Well I didn't think it was that interesting" Paige let go of Emily's hand to have a look at a few photos that were still up on the wall

"Of course it is" Emily said shaking her head

"These are cute photo's, you were a cute baby" Paige chuckled

"That's so embarrassing" Emily laughed shaking her head

"No it's not" Paige shook her head with a smile "Your mom is really sweet"

"She is" Emily nodded "She took a little while to get to being okay with me being gay but as soon as she turned that corner she has been really supportive. Bringing

girls home like you make it a little easier as well"

"I'm glad things got easier" Paige nodded

"Can I ask you something?" Emily asked moving towards the window seat, sitting down and patting the spot next to her

"Yeah, of course" Paige replied quietly "What is it Em?"

"Did your grandparents know you were gay?" Emily asked cautiously

"No..I mean I don't know" Paige shook her head "Maybe they did but I didn't really mention it until leading up to the Olympics. My grandma always asked me why I

didn't have a boyfriend, thankfully being an Olympian I legitimately had the excuse that I had no time"

"Do you think they would have minded?" Emily asked

"I don't know" Paige replied with a small smile "They were pretty old fashioned so I don't know but I would like to think that they would be okay"

"I always forget how much you've been through" Emily said as Paige sat down next to her "I mean, you're my age, you kind of put me to shame"

"You're a lawyer, that is a huge thing to achieve" Paige shook her head, wrapping her arm around Emily's waist "I could have never done that"

"I'm glad you're here meeting my parents" Emily said happily

"Me too" Paige nodded leaning in to place a quick kiss on Emily's lips before breaking away hearing a knock on the door

"Hey Emmy" Wayne Fields said standing at the door with a small smile on his face

"Hey dad!" Emily greeted enthusiastically, getting up to great him straight away

"Showing Paige your room?" Wayne asked hugging his daughter

"Yes, actually" Emily replied raising her eyebrows at her dad "Dad, this is Paige. Paige this is my dad"

"It's nice to meet you sir" Paige nodded as she stood from the window seat, holding her hand out to shake his hand

"It's very nice to meet you as well" Wayne said with a smile, shaking her hand gently "You're a credit to this country and a fine young woman…from what I have heard"

"Well I hope I can prove whoever said that right" Paige nodded nervously

"Dad you're making her nervous" Emily complained as she shook her head

"It's okay Em" Paige placed a hand on Emily's shoulder

"Your mother wants us downstairs" Wayne replied as she moved aside so he was no longer blocking the doorway

"Wow" Paige said with her eyebrows raised once they had made their way into the kitchen again "This looks amazing"

"I wasn't sure what you liked so I thought I would cover all bases" Pam said proudly observing her massive spread of food "Sit and eat please, all of you"

"Did you think she was bringing the whole Olympic swimming team?" Emily joked as she sat down in her usual seat, motioning for Paige to sit next to her

"I just don't like people to come here and go hungry" Pam shrugged taking a seat

"I can't say anyone has ever done anything this nice for me" Paige said honestly

"Paige you would have had this all the time when you were in London and at events" Emily said deadpanned

"Yeah but that's because it was someone's job to do it" Paige shrugged "This is nicer"

"Well I'm glad you like it" Pam grinned

"So Paige, I'll admit that I didn't expect Emily to tell us the first girl she dated since Samara would be an Olympian" Pam said as she passed Paige a plate of food

"Mom! Shouldn't we have some small talk first? Like; how are you finding being back or what about that weather?" Emily asked with a horrified look on her face

"I didn't expect to find a girl like Em when I came home to Rosewood" Paige said looking from Emily to her mom "I'm lucky I had good timing"

"So you decided to come back on your own accord?" Wayne asked

"This place was all I knew besides San Fran. I kind of wanted to leave there after London and my rehab" Paige shrugged "Plus my grandparents raised me here and I

like to remember them by living back here. My grandfather was actually in the service before he retired as well Mr. Fields"

"Good man" Wayne said warmly "You know your last race was pretty inspirational with your shoulder being so hurt"

"Thank you" Paige nodded

"How long did it take you to recover from that?" Pam asked

"I was about 8 weeks in a sling and then I had some further physio after that" Paige replied "I had worn it down so much that it can still be a bit painful sometimes"

"I think you would have made the Olympics in Rio if you hadn't have been injured" Wayne said as he took a bite of a scone

"Thanks" Paige nodded "I don't know and I guess I will never know"

"Em how's your case going?" Wayne asked changing the subject

"It's slow" Emily said with a frustrated sigh "I don't know, I feel like we're on the verge of cracking him but we just can't get there"

"You'll get there" Wayne nodded "Veronica Hastings obviously saw something in you to hire you so you just hang in there"

"Thanks dad" Emily replied with a nod

"Paige, Emily tells me you do a lot of charity work and some sponsorship work?" Pam asked, genuinely interested

"Yeah I like to do the charity work more than the sponsorship work but that pays the bills so I've picked up a few here and there" Paige said modestly

"A few?" Wayne asked chuckling "You know you were on a Wheaties box a few months back right?"

"One of my proudest moments" Paige grinned shyly "Which is a bit childish but I guess every Olympian dreams about that one. I may have quite a few sponsorships

but I'm just trying to make as much of my time worth it while I can work like that pretty easily"

"I hope this isn't rude but do you get paid by Jason at the swim school?" Pam asked

"That is rude" Emily warned with a nod

"No, it's fine. I do get paid but not much" Paige replied shrugging "I'm just glad Jason asked me to come back"

"So he asked you and that's why you came back?" Wayne asked

"Well one of the reasons; I knew the sharks would give me a coaching job as well because I had been toying with the idea for a while and when I knew my old house

was up for sale, I took that chance" Paige replied "And I'm glad I did"

"Me too" Emily said happily

"You sound like a busy girl" Wayne noted looking to Paige

"I am sir" Paige nodded

"No one is on duty here, no need to call me sir" Wayne replied warmly

"Sorry…I guess I was just raised like that" Paige shrugged

"Your parents did a great job" Pam said before she paused

"Mom" Emily chastised "I told you"

"I forgot. I'm really sorry Paige" Pam shook her head with a sympathetic look on her face "I didn't mean to"

"Why are you sorry?" Paige furrowed her eyebrows

"Em just mentioned that you might not want to talk about your parents" Pam explained

"It's okay, I don't mind. It's my history and I want you guys to get to know me so I don't mind" Paige shrugged simply but she avoided everyone's eyes

"Well we appreciate that" Pam nodded "And we can see what Emily see's in you"

"I'm glad" Paige nodded with a smile forming on her lips "I don't have a relationship with my parents, they aren't a part of my life so as you might imagine, I don't

credit them for anything I have or I am"

"Well we're sorry to hear that they weren't around for you" Pam reasoned

"That's why Em is so lucky to have you, you guys are accepting and loving" Paige replied "Probably one of the reasons why she's so great"

"Well we did the best we could with her" Pam said "We made some mistakes in the past but we made sure that Emily knew she was always loved and appreciated"

"You're alright parents" Emily joked

"I think you're impressing Wayne more than Samara did and he liked Samara" Pam replied

"She's a national hero" Wayne shrugged "It's an honour to have you in our house"

"Hero probably isn't the right word" Paige shook her head with a chuckle

Brunch moved along quickly and Emily's parents seemed to really like Paige which she was pleased about. Emily pulled up in front of her house, parking the car with a

wide smile on her face. Without a word; she undid her seat belt and leaned over to kiss Paige gently. Paige smiled against Emily's lips, pulling away after a moment to

gain eye contact with Emily.

"What was that for? Paige asked grinning

"I can't just kiss my girlfriend after she was very impressive in front of my parents?" Emily asked as she pecked Paige on the lips quickly once again

"Well of course you can" Paige laughed, placing her hand the base of Emily's neck "I think I just love the fact that you're mine"

"Me too" Emily agreed "Thank you for being so good about meeting them"

"Em I want to do whatever I can so that they like me" Paige shrugged "I know how important they are to you"

"Thank you" Emily smiled

"You're pretty amazing, you know that?" Paige asked quietly

"They loved you" Emily said proudly "I told you that they would"

"I'm glad" Paige replied with a smile "I'm pretty jealous because you basically have the perfect family"

"We're not perfect, no one is" Emily shook her off

"You're pretty close" Paige shrugged

Emily smiled at Paige before her phone buzzed, telling her she had received a text message. It wasn't what she expecting and her brows wrinkled in concern while

reading the text.

"What's up?" Paige asked after taking in Emily's worried expression

"I've got to go to the police station" Emily said turning her key in the ignition once again before looking to Paige "I can drop you home first if you want?"

"No, I'll come with and just wait or something" Paige replied "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know…I don't think so" Emily shook her head as she backed out of her driveway

The car ride was short but it felt like it lasted for hours because it was filled with silence. Paige didn't want to speak because she wasn't sure what was going on and

Emily was stuck in her own head. Paige didn't want to be left in the dark in this situation but she didn't want to push her luck and try to get Emily to talk if she wasn't

willing to. She had to admit though she was a little worried; Emily seemed frazzled and Paige couldn't understand why.

Emily parked abruptly outside of the police station where Spencer, Aria and Hanna were all waiting outside with Veronica.

"Is it true?" Emily asked as soon as she got out of the car, looking to the other girls for their reactions to answer her question.

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**Hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you thought :) Hope you guys have a good rest of your week! Thankfully it's almost Friday. **

**Dani :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi all! Sorry it's been a while since I updated! I have just been so busy lately! I've been working 10 and 11 hour work days for the past week because i work for a professional football club and our first home game is this weekend so it's pretty crazy! **

**Hope you all had a great Easter. Thanks so much for the reviews, I really appreciate the feedback and the support as well. Thank you to the Anon/Guest reviewers who i can't reply to via PM, I really appreciate getting the reviews. It makes the writing worth it and it encourages me to keep going.**

**Hopefully you guys like this chapter! Sorry if the editing isn't that great! I'm exhausted and I know i won't have a chance to upload this for another few days if i don't get it done now. Straight to sleep after this! Please let me know what you think! :)**

* * *

"Someone has come forward with security footage of that night to clear Garrett and they're witnessing that he was just outside of Rosewood on the night Ali was

killed" Veronica said with a frown "The lady who came forth was working at a gas station just on the fringe of town. He has an alibi, apparently he is innocent"

"What?" Emily replied shaking her head "No, he was the last person to see Ali alive…we… we found her bag in his police car. He is guilty"

"If they have security footage and it checks out like they're saying it does; then his story that he gave Ali a lift back to Rosewood, dropping her off outside her

house before he returned to go visit Jenna will be deemed true. The lady who was witness to Garrett being around said that he cleared out her store of some people

making trouble, she was scared to come forward before but all of a sudden she just approached police with a tape" Veronica said "At least an innocent man is free"

"Why now?" Emily asked "I don't understand"

"I have no idea" Veronica shook her head with a sigh

"He can't be innocent" Spencer replied looking to her mom "We looked at this time and time again, we were tormented by this"

"If it wasn't him, then who was it?" Hanna asked "And what are they going to do so I feel safe tonight with my son sleeping at home?"

"We'll figure it all out once we know more" Veronica said calmly

"How did he get out so quickly?" Aria asked sharply

"He's a cop" Emily shrugged in defeat with a sigh

"We'll go inside and find out what is happening" Veronica said as she started walking up the stairs towards the police station

Hanna, Spencer and Aria all followed Veronica up towards the station but Emily hesitated, turning back to Paige.

"You okay to wait out here?" Emily asked

"Yeah, of course" Paige nodded "Are you okay?"

"I'm not sure" Emily said shaking her head "But I'm glad you're here"

"I won't move" Paige replied leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on Emily's cheek

"Thanks" Emily nodded

Emily followed the other girls into the station while Paige leaned back onto Emily's car with her arms folded; just waiting to see what was going on. She was

confused but she also knew that she needed to be there for Emily and not ask too many questions but instead she knew she just needed to be there to listen to

her, be her shoulder if need be. Emily would tell her whatever she thought that Paige would need to know in time, she just had to be patient.

"I heard you were back in town" She heard a soft voice speak next to Emily's car

Turning her head she saw a girl who she hadn't seen since middle school; a girl she hadn't expected to see again. She found herself looking at Toby's arguably evil

step sister Jenna.

"Jenna?" Paige asked furrowing her eyebrows

"So you do remember me" Jenna replied removing her sunglasses from her eyes to rest them on the top of her head

"I didn't know you were still living here" Paige said shaking her head "Toby told me that you left town"

"I'm not, I'm only here for today" Jenna shook her head

"So why are you back?" Paige asked "In front of the police station?"

"I got here as soon as I could" Jenna shrugged, clearly not wanting to give Paige too much information too quickly "You're lucky you got out of here when you did"

"Why do you say that?" Paige asked curiously

"A lot of things have happened here that shouldn't happen in a small town like Rosewood" Jenna said "Things that aren't normal or coincidence like people say they

are"

"Like what?" Paige asked

"Like my accident" Jenna said quickly "But I don't think you would know about it"

"No, I don't" Paige shook her head "What happened?"

"You should ask your girlfriend about that one" Jenna replied with a smirk as she folded her arms tightly "She was there. She wouldn't have told you that though.

Those girls can keep a secret, I will give them that"

"What do you mean?" Paige paused

"You should just ask her about it" Jenna replied "Then maybe you can come back and explain to me why they just stood where they did when it happened…why

they didn't try and do anything to stop it. I mean I knew we weren't friends or anything but what happened to me was beyond cruel"

"Stop what?" Paige asked shaking her head "Jenna, what happened?"

"It doesn't matter" Jenna shook her head as well "I'm not here to discuss that"

"Why are you here?" Paige asked "If you hate this place so much?"

"I don't hate Rosewood, I hate the people in it" Jenna replied "I'm here because I'm taking Garrett away from here when he gets out for spending years in prison

when he was innocent. He shouldn't have to look at the people who charged him wrongly for something he didn't do"

"How can he be innocent though?" Paige asked "He was convicted"

"Because the town was on a witch hunt" Jenna snapped looking to Paige "They didn't look at the evidence properly and they wanted someone to blame, someone

had to pay and they didn't care who. As long as they got the town off their backs"

"But why would they do that?" Paige asked "Why would the police do that?"

"People aren't who they say they are here" Jenna shrugged "Everyone here has a secret. It's just the people who come off second best when they're not willing to

do whatever it takes to keep it"

"So what's yours then?" Paige asked

"I'm not that easy" Jenna smirked "Listen, you were always a nice girl. Garrett didn't do it and the person who did is going to get scared because they have covered

their tracks and now they're in danger of being exposed. You need to get out of Rosewood soon, get Emily and get out of here. We're leaving and so should you"

The doors of the police station opened and out walked Garrett with a bag in his hands and a smile on his face. Pausing for only a moment to look at Jenna; he

rushed down the stairs, embracing Jenna in a tight hug as she hugged him back tightly.

"I can't believe that I'm out" Paige heard Garrett mumble

"I knew we could prove you were innocent" Jenna replied "I knew someone would have seen you, it just took me a while to get that footage"

"That was you?" Paige mumbled

"She was terrified" Jenna said to Paige as she pulled away from the hug "The lady who had the footage was being scared off by someone. You don't even want to

know how much I had to pay her…how much it cost us Garrett"

"I don't care" Garrett replied happily "I'm out, they transferred me here for a few questions and now I can go. We're free Jenna, we can go wherever we want"

He looked to Paige curiously and he paused for a moment

"She is with Emily" Jenna explained

"You should get out of here like we are" Garrett said "And I suggest you do that quickly. Who knows who this has upset but I'm not staying around to find out"

"Paige, step away from him" Emily called protectively from the bottom of the stairs

Paige looked over to Emily who was holding her hand out for her at her side and Paige walked over, taking Emily's hand without question.

"What's going on?" Paige asked quietly ducking her head to look Emily in the eyes

"I'll explain later" Emily nodded as she kept her eyes on Garrett

"I'm not angry with you girls" Garrett said as he looked at the 4 of them "I'm angry at the police department for overlooking such prominent evidence of my

innocence though. I'm leaving Rosewood and I suggest you do the same. Be careful of the company you keep, I think one of you is going to find out the hard way"

With those last words Garrett and Jenna got into the car, driving away while the girls and Veronica all stood watching in disbelief.

"That happened quicker than I expected" Veronica said with a disappointed look on her face

"So he just gets to walk away?" Paige asked looking helplessly between the girls

"They looked again, they were ordered to" Emily said scattered "They found a fabric sample on her sweater they found her in and for some reason they didn't pick

that up the first time"

"They missed that evidence the first time" Veronica shook her head

"Or maybe someone is covering up for whoever did it" Aria shook her head "You can't miss that unless it's on purpose"

"We can't draw such heavy conclusions without knowing" Veronica warned

"Well it's pretty difficult to miss something like that" Spencer said honestly to her mom "How did they not find that sample the first time? They said that they

found nothing on the sweater"

"Okay so what happens with that fabric sample?" Paige asked returning to the relevant topic of conversation

"They'll run some tests and see if they can find who it belongs to or at least find out what type of material it was" Emily replied "We'll hope for the former"

"And what if it's the latter?" Paige asked

"Then we're back to square one and whoever killed Ali is still out there" Emily said as she leaned her head against Paige's shoulder quickly "We should get you

home, I don't feel safe right now"

"Either do I" Hanna replied shaking her head "I need to get home to Brax"

"My house, tomorrow" Emily said looking to all the girls "We need to talk about this"

"Yeah, okay" Aria nodded

"Get home, I'm going to go to the office and see what I can find out" Veronica said

"Should I come with?" Emily asked

"No, you go home and stay with Paige tonight" Veronica replied shaking her head "We'll get to the bottom of this girls"

Paige had decided that she and Emily should stay at her house that night so they went straight from the Police station to Paige's. She made sure that she locked

the door as soon as they both walked in the house behind them. The whole Garrett leaving prison incident made them both feel unsafe, Emily especially and Paige

wanted to make sure that Emily felt at protected and guarded.

"You okay?" Paige asked as she watched a spaced out Emily stare a hole into her floor

"No" Emily shook her head, keeping her eyes on the ground "And I know you have questions, I'll answer them but I just need a minute"

"You don't have to answer anything you don't want to right now" Paige shrugged "I just want to make sure you're okay"

"I can't believe that Garrett got out" Emily shook her head "That almost makes me question what I work for…I mean what kind of justice system lets a convicted

murder out of jail. He is guilty, without a doubt in my mind. That man who just walked free is guilty of Alison's murder"

"He was vindicated" Paige replied quietly "They had enough evidence to free him"

"He had more than enough evidence against him to convict him years ago" Emily replied quickly

"The fact is Em that he is out and someone is out there who actually hurt your friend" Paige said truthfully

"I just…how did we get the wrong person?" Emily asked turning to look to Paige "What did we miss?"

"He looked pretty guilty to me as well" Paige shrugged "You can't blame yourself"

"But we had him put away for years for something he didn't do" Emily said shaking her head "What if he really is innocent Paige and we put him away for almost 7

years of his life?"

"It wasn't just you four though. It was a jury and a judge too" Paige tried to reassure Emily

"I guess" Emily said furrowing her eyebrows "I don't know where we go from here though. I don't know if I can put myself through that process again…trying to

find out who did it"

"You don't need to worry about it right now" Paige shook her head

"I can't believe this"

"Em, you did nothing wrong and you know that. You did what you thought was right at the time" Paige shook her head as she grabbed Emily's hands "You have

done nothing wrong here"

"Paige someone is still out there" Emily said quietly "Someone is still out there who killed my friend and I've failed as a lawyer but a friend too"

"I know you feel that way but you weren't a lawyer back then Em. You were a high school student and just going after that guy the way you guys did means that

you're a great friend. I also know that you and Veronica are going to work on this with the Police and you're going to catch whoever it was" Paige reassured her

girlfriend "You're going to get whoever did this, I know you will"

"We didn't get them the first time, how will we get them this time?" Emily asked shaking her head "What am I supposed to do differently?"

"I don't know what you're supposed to do but you will figure it out. You always figure these things out and this is nothing different" Paige replied confidently "I

don't doubt it and you shouldn't either"

"How do you know all this?" Emily asked shaking her head

"Because you are brilliant and you will do it" Paige nodded "Believe in yourself like everyone else does you"

Emily sighed, letting go of Paige to place her head in her own hands.

" So what did Jenna say to you?" Emily asked as she rubbed her eyes

"Nothing important" Paige shook her head

"No, honestly" Emily replied "What did she say to you?"

"Em it wasn't important, you don't need to worry about it" Paige answered shaking her head once again "You have enough on your mind"

"I wasn't expecting to see her" Emily replied looking up to her girlfriend once again "Did you remember her?"

"Yeah I did" Paige admitted "I remember her from middle school"

"We went to high school together, she was in and out of Rosewood" Emily explained "She was out of here for good as soon as Garret was convicted"

"She just left him here?" Paige asked raising her eyebrow

"She came back to visit him but she hated this place and she hated us" Emily said with a sigh

"Well you guys only did what you thought was right" Paige shrugged "You can't keep blaming yourself, you found evidence and you did the right thing by taking

that to the police. It was their fault that their processes were apparently wrong at the time"

"She had another reason to hate us" Emily replied "A real reason to hate us all"

"Does this have to with some kind of secret about her accident?" Paige asked curiously

"Accident?" Emily asked

"Jenna said to me that she had an accident and to ask you about it" Paige replied a little more cautiously than she had spoken previously "Something about how

you guys could all keep a secret well"

"She said that to you?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows as she spoke to herself more than anything "You have nothing to do with this, why is she dragging you

into that?"

"Into what Em?" Paige asked "What is between you girls and her?"

"This happened a long time ago" Emily replied "When we were in high school and young"

"You don't need to tell me anything you don't want to" Paige shook her head as she looked at Emily with a concerned expression, she could see that something

was really bothering her girlfriend

"You're going to think I'm a monster" Emily replied looking to Paige's shoes, not even being able to look into her eyes

"Emily Fields, how could I ever think that?" Paige asked shaking her head as she used her index finger to tilt Emily's chin to gain eye contact with her

"After this story you might think it" Emily replied

"You don't have to tell me" Paige repeated quietly, moving her hand away from Emily's face

"Ali didn't like Jenna at all. I don't really know why. Jenna had been pretty intimidating sure, but she never actually did anything to her" Emily shook her head as

she began to tell the story

"Okay" Paige nodded

"One day Ali thought it would be funny to play a prank on her so we went over to her house and Ali pulled out some firecrackers" Emily said "Of course we didn't

think it was a good idea but Ali threw the fireworks into garage and then just ran off. We were stunned, at least I was so we just ran off with her and we heard

Jenna scream. I don't know what I thought would happen but I certainly think she was going to be blinded, I didn't even know she was actually going to be in

there"

"She was blinded?!" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"For a while, yeah" Emily replied and she laughed bitterly at herself "I mean I don't know what else I thought was going to happen. The police asked us what

happened and we just said we had no idea, that we just came after the incident happened"

"You were scared" Paige reasoned

"Don't make excuses for me Paige" Emily shook her head "I could have said anything at any time but I didn't and I still could but it's still scary. Ali didn't want us to

say anything but now she's dead and the reason why she is dead is still out there…still around. I'm terrified to do anything right now. Jenna always knew it was us,

but for some reason, she never said anything about it to the police or to anyone but she hates us and as I said; she had every reason. I could have stopped Ali at

anytime but I stood there and did nothing"

"Do you really think if you said something to her, she would have actually stopped?" Paige asked

"Well I'll never know" Emily shrugged "I didn't even try"

"Em, people make mistakes. You realize now that you made a mistake" Paige replied "Jenna is fine now, okay? You're not the guilty one here"

"I am though" Emily objected "Yeah, we were all scared of Ali so we didn't want to speak up and yeah we didn't know anyone was going to actually be in there but

I should have thought about it"

"How old were you when this happened Em?" Paige asked raising her eyebrow

"Sixteen"

"Okay, you were sixteen. You're looking back at it now as a twenty five year old with life experience and an a college education" Paige replied shaking her head "You

made a mistake by not coming forward or trying to stop Ali but everything is okay now, Jenna can see"

"But what if she couldn't?" Emily asked

"Em, it's been a long day. Should we just take a shower and watch a movie in bed?" Paige asked "Maybe take your mind of it?"

"Yeah" Emily nodded with a frustrated sigh "I'm sorry Paige"

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Thank you for trusting me to share that" Paige shook her head "Come on"

* * *

**So what did we all think? I hope you guys like where this is going, I'll have a new chapter up as soon as I can. I think I'm just starting to get into the interesting part of this story to sit tight while I try and get this written. Please let me know what you thought!**

**Have a great weekend!**

**Dani :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey Guys, it's been a while. Forgive me for the late update. I lost a bit of focus with this story, I only received a few reviews for the last chapter and wasn't sure if people were still interested in the story so i kind of stalled. Dumb reason, i know and I have written a whole lot more. I just don't want to publish this online if there's no point. **

**Anyway, just fresh off the season premier (how awesome was it?!) I thought i would update. Let me know what you think, please review! Be patient, I am starting to get to the point of the story where some crazy things might start happening and fingers will be pointing to people. Might want to re-read the last chapter to remember where this picks up from!**

**Hope you're having a good week so far. Let me know what you think :)**

* * *

Paige was confused about what was going on in Rosewood, she had no idea how Emily and her friends could have been caught up in so much drama, and the

source of all that drama had been their friend.

Ali had come along just before Emily, missing meeting Paige while she lived in town and Paige had to admit that she was pretty happy about that. What she had

heard about Ali hadn't done her any favours as far as Paige was concerned. From what she knew and heard, this girl was a bit of a psycho who sounded like her

redeeming qualities were few and far between.

It had been a week since Garrett had been released from prison and it had been a week since Emily had told her about Jenna. Paige thought about it for a while,

she wasn't too sure how to take what Emily had said. At first, she wasn't sure how to look at her friends the same way she had previous to knowing that story

about Jenna. Then she got thinking about her friends and who they really were. She knew it wasn't Emily's fault but she also realised that none of the other girls

did anything to stop Ali. Paige wasn't stupid; she knew how headstrong Spencer could be, how stubborn Aria could get and how honest Emily usually was. She

knew that if they were afraid of speaking out against Ali, she would have held something over them all and not something small either.

Jason had needed to take the week off and had gone to see family who had moved outside of Rosewood since his sisters murder case was reopened. Paige had

taken over the swim school for the week, just to ease his mind over what might be happening at home while he was gone.

She was finding it a little different to being a swim coach, there were a few things she had no idea how to handle and other things she could do with her eyes

closed.

"This your idea of a neat office?" Emily asked as she walked into Jason's office

Paige looked up from the desk with a small smile on her face and she sighed

"This is as neat as I do" Paige replied looking around as she shrugged "I will clean up before Jason gets back though, he's a bit of a neat freak"

"A bit?" Emily asked raising her eyebrow before closing the door behind her

"A lot" Paige said "Brax here for his lesson?"

"As well as everyone else" Emily nodded "Have you set up for your class?"

"Well I came in early to get a head start on this paper work but then I got caught up paying a bill for the centre because apparently it needs electricity" Paige

replied sarcastically

"Who would have thought" Emily joked lightly

"Jason mentioned that he had left some notes around the place, which I found but he told me about 3 things and I'm running blind with the rest of the stuff here"

Paige shook her head in frustration "I mean how am I supposed to know that some coaches can't work a certain day or have taken leave? I'm only here a few days

a week"

"Okay Paige, I think you're forgetting that you're just looking after the place while Jason is gone" Emily said with wide eyes as she looked at her stressed out

girlfriend "You're not supposed to know any of this because you're being a good friend and helping out while Jason is gone. It was a last minute decision to help him

out"

"I know, I just don't want him to be stressed when he gets out because I left everything a mess" Paige shook her head

"Okay so I'm going to sit in the office and clean it up while you teach your class, that's why all those kids are here" Emily said pointing to the pool

"Em you don't need to do anything for me, I can handle it" Paige protested

"I know you can but I want to help" Emily nodded "Off you go"

"Okay" Paige nodded as she stood from her chair "Don't do too much"

"Don't worry" Emily chuckled as she placed a kiss on Paige's check quickly before nudging her towards the door

Paige taught her class, she was a little distracted but she managed to get through the lesson without anything major happening. She dried herself off and joined

Emily, sitting on the bleachers whilst waiting for Braxton.

"Thank you for helping" Paige said as she sat down next to Emily with a sigh

"You haven't even seen the office yet" Emily chuckled

"I know but just knowing you helped is enough" Paige shrugged

"What are you doing for the rest of the afternoon?" Emily asked

"I'm here all day and then I was just planning on going for a run" Paige replied

"Well I'm free tonight so how about you come over and we have a bit of a sleep over?" Emily asked with a slight husky tone to her voice

"Okay" Paige nodded with a smirk "I'm sold"

"Great, we'll watch a movie and have dinner" Emily said happily "I'll cook"

"Sounds good" Paige replied "Just what I need I think"

"Yeah I think so too" Emily replied "So why don't you call me when you're done with your run?"

"Will do" Paige smiled

"Ready" Braxton announced as she strode up to Emily

"And that is my cue" Emily said standing "I'll see you tonight"

Emily bent down, placing a kiss on the top of Paige's head before she stepped off the bleachers, taking Braxton with her out the gate of the aquatic centre.

Paige returned back to the office where she found everything neatly piled and organised. She could now actually see the desk from under her paperwork, which she

appreciated seeing as Jason was coming back on Monday and she needed to leave the office in order for him.

Emily dropped Braxton off later that afternoon after taking him out for ice cream when they left his lesson. They walked inside Hanna's house; her bags were

sitting at the front door so she knew Hanna had just returned home, she was just too lazy to put them away herself yet.

"Hanna?" Emily called as Braxon rushed up the stairs behind her

"In the kitchen" Hanna called back

"You just get in?" Emily asked as she followed Hanna's voice to the kitchen where she found her sitting in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal "Nice lunch"

"I skipped breakfast so I thought I would make up for it by eating it really late" Hanna shrugged "How was his lesson?"

"Good for Brax and the other kids" Emily said with a small smile "Not so great for Paige"

"Why not?" Hanna asked raising her eyebrows "What's wrong with your hot Olympian?"

"She's a little stressed out about Jason being away" Emily said "Apparently a lot goes into running that swim school that Jason didn't tell her"

"Well I kind of don't blame him" Hanna said with a sigh "I mean he would have had something else on his mind"

"I think we've all had something else on our minds" Emily replied walking over to the kitchen table and sitting down "I mean can we really believe that Garret is

innocent?"

"For all we know Jenna could have paid that little old lady off and had someone make that security footage" Hanna replied folding her arms "It's not difficult to

change a date on a tape"

"I guess we just have to wait and hope they find something with that fabric on her sweater" Emily said "I just feel bad because I don't want to drag Paige into this,

I don't want her involved"

"Well she's involved with you which means she's now involved with this, like it or not" Hanna replied honestly shaking her head "I've tried not to think about it too

much, it was bad enough when it was just ourselves we had to worry about but now I have a son"

"We had everything but a confession from Garret" Emily shook her head "I work in law and even I don't understand how he could have been released so quickly"

"They found evidence to clear his name and he was buddies with all the guys who charged him" Hanna shrugged "I'm not really surprised"

"If it wasn't him then maybe this is a positive" Emily said with a sigh

"How is that a positive, Em?" Hanna asked shaking her head "Ali's killer is still out there and we have no idea where they are, who they are and why they did it"

"Then we need to work on finding that" Emily replied "Just like we did it before"

"But we were wrong before" Hanna objected

"Everyone else seemed to think we were right as well" Emily shrugged "There has to be something, somewhere that we missed that would help us"

"Hopefully we can find that sooner rather than later" Hanna said as she shook her head

Paige was a little spaced out to say the least on her run; she had a million and one thoughts charging through her mind. She was concerned for Emily and the

other girls, concerned for what this reopened murder case was going to do to them, what old wounds it was going to tear open. Paige had already seen a toll taken

on Spencer who was not sleeping and hardly eating because she was too busy trying to find what they missed previously. Aria was taking it a bit better than

Spencer but they had all spent time together trying to digest that just over a week ago, the man who they were convinced killed their friend was released and

vindicated very suddenly. She was also busy trying to think about Jason and the swim school, she was very aware that Jason may not have been returning when

he said he was. She knew that he would take as much time as he needed, which she wanted him to do but she was a little concerned about the everyday running

of the swim school.

She was running her usual route, deciding to extend her run a little bit to clear her head so she could be fresh and her mind would be clear for Emily that night

because she knew Emily would need all of her attention. Paige decided to take a turn down the street where Hanna lived and smiled when she saw Emily's car in

the driveway from a distance. She noticed a black SUV sitting a few houses down from the house, the windows heavily tinted with the engine running. Paige would

normally think nothing of it, black SUV's with tinted windows weren't necessarily anything unusually suspicious but she had a bad feeling and she wasn't sure why.

As she continued to make her way down the street she saw Braxton in the front yard with a ball at his feet, kicking it around to himself. She heard the car turn on,

the engine wasn't difficult to miss; it was loud and almost angry.

Braxton kicked the ball a little too far one time, the ball landing in the street but stopping in its place once it hit the gutter. Paige was only 15 or so metres away

from Braxton at that point but everything that happened next happened really quickly.

"Braxton!" Paige exclaimed as she saw the black SUV begin to accelerate very quickly towards the direction Braxton was in and if Paige was not mistaken, they

were aiming straight for him.

Braxton looked up, his eyes widened as he was glued to the spot where he was standing as he saw the car come screaming towards him. Paige knew she didn't

have any other choice when she made the split second decision to push Braxton out the way onto the footpath and land pretty much on top of him to protect him

from the car. Paige barely missed the car but she was more concerned about the small boy below her who began to cry for a moment as the car began to speed up

the street. She hadn't really registered what had happened right away but she knew if she hadn't been there at the right time, a car would have hit Braxton and it

would have been purposely.

"Paige?" Emily asked from the front gate where she and Hanna were standing

"Brax!" Hanna gasped rushing to her son as she saw him stand up with scrapes on his knees and hands

"Mom" Braxton said as he looked at Hanna with wide eyes

"What happened? We heard a car speed off" Emily said as she made her way over to Paige who stayed on the ground looking up the street, she was

understandably shocked by what had just occurred

"The car" Braxton whimpered

"A car just tried to run Braxton over" Paige mumbled as she looked to Emily who was crouching next to her

"What?!" Emily asked with wide eyes

"He kicked his ball on the street and the car was just sitting there…it started and then the driver just floored it, trying to go straight into Braxton. I pushed him out

the way and it just missed me, it sped off down the street. They didn't even stop" Paige shook her head

"Are you okay?" Emily asked looking over Paige's body to see any visible injuries

"My shoulder is sore, I landed right on it" Paige said shaking her head

"We need to get you to the hospital" Emily said quickly

"What about Brax?" Paige asked as she looked to the crying little boy who was clinging to his mother

"He's fine, just a few scratches" Hanna said as she looked up the street "Did you see who was driving?"

"No, I just saw the tinted windows" Paige shook her head "It happened too quickly anyway"

"Are you sure someone purposely tried to hit Braxton?" Emily asked

"More than sure" Paige nodded as she sat up, flinching when she felt the pain in her shoulder really kick in

"I'm calling the police" Hanna said "And I'm getting Caleb to come home right now"

"I'm taking Paige to the hospital first, she needs to get checked out" Emily said looking to Hanna

"Call the police, I can wait" Paige replied

"You're hurt" Emily said shaking her head

"I can wait" Paige reassured Emily "I swam 100 meters with a torn shoulder. I can survive an hour or so with a sore one"

"Let's get you some ice then" Emily replied

Paige stood from the footpath and she looked down to her legs, she had a few scratches and scrapes as well but she knew it could have and really should have been

a lot worse; she wasn't sure how she managed to get to Braxton so quickly.

Hanna, Braxton and Emily began making their way inside but Paige stood on the road, looking down at the tire marks on the road beneath her feet. She could

smell the rubber burnt onto the tar road from when the car took off so quickly.

"Paige" Emily called, trying to break Paige's train of thought

"Sorry" Paige said looking to Emily shaking her head

"Come on" Emily said holding her hand out for her girlfriend

Paige nodded and she walked to Emily, looking back to the road once more to see if the car had come back but once she saw no one was around she placed her

hand in Emily's walking inside.

Hanna called the Police and called Caleb to come home from work. They weren't waiting long until the police showed up but they couldn't do much about what

happened. Paige had a description of the car but she couldn't remember the license plate number because it all happened so quickly.

Once Paige had made a statement to the police, she was taken to the hospital. She hadn't done anything major to her shoulder but she was told she needed to be

in a sling for at least a week.

The doctors gave her something to numb the pain and she was sent home but Emily decided it would be a good idea for them to stay at her house that night.

Emily called Spencer and Aria, telling them what happened and while they were concerned, they knew Paige would be in good care with Emily.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Emily asked sitting on the couch next to Paige

"I'm fine" Paige said quietly "I'm just happy to have you here with me"

"I'm sorry that happened today" Emily said shaking her head

"Why are you apologizing?" Paige shook her head as well

"I feel kind of responsible for it" Emily admitted

"Unless you're the one who was driving that car, then I think you're okay" Paige replied quickly 'I'm glad I was there Em"

"Why?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows

"Because whoever was driving was going to hit Braxton" Paige said closing her eyes for a moment "There's no doubt about it"

"You did save his life" Emily nodded with a small smile "I don't know how you could be so brave"

"You would have done the same" Paige replied

"I hope so" Emily said

"I had no other choice, I could see what was about to happen" Paige said with a sigh "The look on Braxton's face when the car began coming straight for him was

something I'm not going to forget for a long time"

"Hanna sent me a text saying that Braxton has renamed his batman figurine after you" Emily said light heartedly "He said that you're his new hero"

"I'm a little scared Em" Paige replied seriously as she looked over to her girlfriend

"Paige" Emily said with a concerned voice as she reached over to take the other woman's hand

"A person just tried to hit a kid…an innocent child who was playing in his yard" Paige replied vulnerably "Then they just took off after they failed which makes me

worried whether something like this will happen again"

"We'll keep Braxton safe" Emily said reassuringly "They're not going to let him out of their sight and I will be the same"

"But what if someone is after you as well?" Paige asked

"No one is after me" Emily shook her head

"I'm just scared for you and I don't know why I feel that way" Paige replied

"We're going to be okay, we'll figure this whole thing out" Emily said shaking her head

"You shouldn't need to figure this out, you have enough to worry about" Paige said with a sigh "I'm sorry, I'm just thinking aloud"

"And it's okay to do that" Emily nodded "I'm here for you because that's what you do for people you love and care about?"

"Love?" Paige said pausing in her tracks

"Oh" Emily said blushing as she realized what she had just said

"Do you mean that?" Paige asked quietly

"Of course I do, I've just never said it before" Emily replied before taking a deep breath "I love you"

"I love you too" Paige replied as a smile broke over her the concerned look on her face, happiness overshadowing her worry for a moment

"I've been meaning to say that for a little while, I guess" Emily shrugged

"Me too" Paige nodded as she leaned over to kiss Emily

They broke away after a moment, their foreheads resting on each-others as their eyes drifted closed again.

"I feel safer with you here" Paige mumbled "I just couldn't stand it if something happened to you"

"Nothing is going to happen to me Paige" Emily reassured her "I'm more concerned about you"

"My shoulder is just a little bruised, I'm okay" Paige replied "Just had a bit of a scare. I'm just waiting for a call from my manager asking me what's going on when

the information goes public"

"Would someone leak that story?" Emily asked

"It'll get out" Paige nodded as she pulled away from Emily to lean her head back on the couch with a sigh "But I expect that"

"Well you saved someone's life, I think that deserves to get out" Emily responded

"Anyone would have done that" Paige shook her head

"I don't think many people would have been brave enough" Emily said

"I just wonder what happens to that person now" Paige said with a sigh

"You and me both" Emily replied nodding

The next morning, Paige woke up to her shoulder aching and her legs stinging. She remembered after a moment what had happened the previous day and she

looked beside her for Emily but she wasn't next to her. Paige groaned as the light hit her eyes, she knew it was mid-morning and she was usually up early but the

painkillers she had taken had caused her to be drowsy. She was actually pretty glad that they were putting her to sleep because she couldn't seem to turn her

mind off and she didn't want to keep Emily awake with her tossing and turning. She slowly emerged from Emily's bed, stopping at the top of the stairs as she heard

voices down in the in the kitchen. Voices that she recognised very easily.

"She's pretty shaken" Emily said, the concern evident in her tone

"So she should be" Aria replied "She was almost hit by a car"

"A car that was coming straight for my son" Hanna interjected "She saved his life"

"We're not debating that" Spencer spoke "Paige is a hero but what I'm saying is I'm concerned for her…for Braxton, Caleb, Toby and Ezra"

"Guys I don't think this has anything to do with Garrett" Emily replied "He left town"

"We saw he and Jenna drive away" Hanna said loudly "We didn't see them hold hands and skip into the sunset. They could have gone anywhere"

"Are we prepared to accept that this was just a coincidence?" Spencer asked "That if something else happens, we're prepared to say that this had nothing to do

with them"

"We have no proof" Emily chimed in "We have nothing right now"

"Well we had proof to put him in jail and that turned out to be wrong" Hanna said "I don't care why they did it. We need to find out who it was and throw their

sorry behinds in jail"

"Behinds?" Aria asked

"I've been trying to stop saying words that Brax might pick up" Hanna explained

Paige moved to place her foot on a stair to get a little closer to the conversation. As fate would have it she stepped on the only creaky floorboard, which turned all of

the girls attention to the stairs.

"You awake Paige?" Emily called

"Hopefully I'm not sleep walking" Paige replied awkwardly as she made her way down to the other girls "What's with the meeting?"

"We came to see how you were feeling" Aria said with a sympathetic smile "How's your shoulder?"

"It's pretty sore" Paige admitted

"I'll get you some pain killers" Emily said before pausing "And breakfast, what do you want?"

"Why do you think that this has something to do with Jenna and Garret?" Paige asked as she sat down on a chair by Emily's kitchen table

"We don't know that it does" Spencer answered

"It's very possible that it was them though" Hanna said looking to Spencer

"But why would they do that?" Paige asked

"To get revenge?" Aria asked

"To make us suffer?" Hanna asked

"I get that" Paige nodded "But when I spoke to Jenna, and I will admit I don't know them as well as you do…or even close…but when I spoke to her, she made it

clear that they were leaving. I mean what reason would they have to step foot in this town again? Everyone thinks they are guilty"

"Not everyone clearly" Spencer replied

"But why would they come back and do this when he is free now? I understand that you think he's angry at you and he probably is. I just don't think that they

would come back just to get revenge on you guys when they could focus on moving on" Paige explained

"Paige, not everyone thinks like you though" Emily replied

The conversation was interrupted suddenly by the sound of a phone ringing. Spencer paused as she noticed it was her mom calling her phone, before picking it up

to answer.

Paige looked to Emily who had her eyes already on her, a look of concerned spread over her face as Paige flinched slightly while moving her shoulder.

"They tested the fabric on the sweater" Spencer said as she put the phone down with a quiet thud "Inconclusive. There was nothing of use but knowing the colour

of the sweater and the material"

"So no hair, no skin or anything?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows

"That's what mom was told" Spencer shrugged "Whoever did this is the smartest or luckiest person in the history of this town"

"And we're back to the start" Hanna said, frustration the underlying tone in her voice "Back to square one like we were when Ali was murdered"

"We're probably further behind square one" Aria replied "We suspected Garrett pretty much straight away, we don't know who this person is"

"We have no idea" Emily confirmed

"So what do we do now?" Hanna asked looking to the other girls who all looked equally confused

"Stay off sidewalks?" Paige offered with a shrug light heartedly

* * *

**Okay, so hopefully you liked it. I will be updating very soon (depending on when i get the time to update as well) so let me know. Who do you think was behind the wheel of the car? This storyline will get deeper as the chapters go on.**

**Thanks,**

**Dani :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi Everyone! So I just wanted to say thank you for all the support for the last chapter, I really appreciate it. I've been writing heaps over the past few days and I will be updating in a couple days time after this. This chapter is more centred around Paige and Spencer but I had to write this chapter so I could set up the end of the story (You'll understand what I mean when you see it later) so be patient with me just for one more chapter. You'll find out more about who was driving that car in the next chapter too. From here, things will move pretty quickly. I will make sure if you guys get through this one, I will follow through with a more interesting chapter very soon! I will have a go at posting it tomorrow.**

**For now, hope you are having a good week so far. I hope you like this chapter and don't forget to let me know what you think with a review!**

* * *

The week passed just as quickly as the previous one had. Jason was soon back in town, and like Paige, he was keeping a low profile around Rosewood. Paige's injury

did come up in a few national news outlets but she out of the sling within the week and her shoulder was feeling better every day. Emily had grown increasingly

worried for Paige because she could just see Paige was still concerned about the car incident. She didn't want Paige to get involved in any Rosewood drama, she

didn't need it.

Paige couldn't shake the thought that someone had tried to hit Braxton with their car while he was playing outside. She couldn't understand why someone would try

and hunt down an innocent child with their car.

She had to forget about it all though because the Sharks were just one meet away from going all the way to the state final. It was a home meet so they had the

advantage with their supporters cheering them on but if they won, it would be the first time in 10 years since the Sharks went to the state final. She understood how

important this was to the girls and just how much pressure they would be under to win.

The swim meet was tense, so tense that it came down to the very last relay to find out who was going to get the points to proceed. Paige talked to her girls before

the race, she knew they were nervous, she knew how much they wanted to win so she encouraged them to use that in the pool. She used her experience in big races

to coach them through their nervousness but it was difficult for her because at least in those races, Paige had some control. She told them to use it as fuel to swim

faster and get themselves to the state championships, where they belonged was what she focussed them on.

The relay finish came down to the anchor as Paige suspected it would, because she knew how good the other school was. Rosewood had touched first by a nose and

one of the girls had jumped into the pool in celebration just as the other team touched in, causing an instant disqualification by the judges.

Almost immediately, Paige was a bit upset about the whole nature of the loss because the girls had worked so hard so she spent a good 20 minutes debating with the

umpires and time keepers about the rules to try and have the decision overturned.

"It wasn't even a legitimate DQ in this competition" Paige exclaimed colourfully as she pointed to herself "I would know!"

"Miss McCullers, we assure you, we were in our rights to do that" The time keeper said with a frown

"Oh really? Have you ever done a change over like that and stumbled into the pool when everyone was finished the race anyway? She touched in as our girls jumped

in, the race was over" Paige asked raising her eyebrows "It happens, you know how I know? I was in the Olympics! You can't rule that at the expense of their season.

We won the race, well and truly. That is not in the rule book for this level of competition"

"Miss McCullers, the ruling is final" He said with a sigh

"I don't think you understand what I am saying here" Paige shook her head "The race was over, everyone had touched in. You know what, I'm going to bring this up

with the IOC. I'm going straight to the top here"

"Oookay, that's enough" Emily said as she tugged her girlfriend away from the judges by the hand while smiling at them politely

"I wasn't done" Paige protested in a childish manner whilst shaking her head furiously "I still have to get this fixed"

"You weren't going to be done for a while" Emily replied "You can't do anything about it. It is how it is"

"Maybe I can't do anything about it but I can make sure they know how unhappy we are about the ruling" Paige shook her head again "I'm filing an official complaint

on Monday. This is beyond a joke"

"Don't you think that will be sending a bad message to the girls?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows "You're teaching them how to swim, maybe you should lead by

example and show them how to lose gracefully"

"No" Paige shook her head as they stopped in the hallway "I'm teaching them not to let themselves get screwed out of something they deserve. That loss was

anything than graceful"

"They'll learn and get better for next year" Emily tried to reason "Let's face it, they're going to just get better with you coaching"

"I'm still complaining about it on Monday" Paige muttered before scoffing "Fancy disqualifying a group of teenage girls because of that. Ridiculous"

"It is the rules though Paige" Emily said cautiously "If that would have been one of your races, you would have been disqualified"

"I know but this isn't the Olympics" Paige shook her head furiously "Those judges don't want to see these girls happy because they have nothing else going for them"

"But if they hope to be there, they need to know these things now" Emily replied "They will learn from this"

"I'm still not happy with it" Paige grumbled as she folded her arms tightly against her body

"They worked hard" Emily nodded, placing her hands on Paige's folded arms to try and disarm her mood "But they will work hard again next year and get even further.

Let them celebrate their season"

"I'm _really_ glad you came tonight" Paige said with a sigh as she found herself unfolding her arms to take both of Emily's hands in hers "Sorry, I just know how hard

they worked and how frustrating it is to have something cost you a shot at something huge. They were so close"

"I'm glad I came tonight too" Emily said as she gestured to the pool "If I hadn't, I think the time keepers would have been going for a swim and someone would have

been punched in the face"

"I'm passionate about the team" Paige shrugged

"And I love you for it" Emily replied with a smile, placing a quick peck on Paige's cheek

"I love you too" Paige nodded with a small smile starting to appear on her face "I don't think I'm going to get sick of you saying that to me"

"You might" Emily joked "What do you say we go be an old couple and watch a movie at home so you can relax?"

"Can we get Chinese?" Paige asked leaning forward slightly

"Yes" Emily chuckled

"You're on" Paige nodded before she pressed her lips to Emily's momentarily, pulling away when they heard people coming down the hall

"Come on" Emily said letting go of one of Paige's hands and they made their way back to Emily's house

Paige was a little grumpy that night but her mood soon changed when she sat down with Emily in front of the TV watching a movie and cuddling up to her under a

warm blanket.

"I know we do this a lot now but I kind of wish this could be a job" Paige joked

"We'd probably get sick of each other" Emily replied

"Only if you made me watch Rudy again" Paige shrugged

"Hey" Emily protested playfully as she swatted Paige "That happens to be an excellent movie"

"I'm not doubting that, I'm just saying that it just gets a little old after seeing it 4 times" Paige replied

"Well you could have said you didn't want to watch it" Emily shook her head

"You would think that but whenever you suggest watching it, you get this cute little look on your face" Paige groaned "I can't help myself"

"A look on my face?" Emily asked curiously

"Your eyes get all big and you bite your lip sometimes" Paige said with a small smile "I can't really explain it"

"Kind of like when you dip your head down to look at the ground when you're being shy?" Emily asked "I'm putty in your hands when you do that to me"

"That isn't cute" Paige shook her head with a smile

"It is" Emily shrugged "And I don't know why you don't think so. I happen to think it's adorable"

"So what are we going to do this weekend?" Paige asked

"Well we could just stay in all weekend" Emily replied leaning her head on Paige's shoulder "Not get out of bed"

"That actually sounds like it could be excellent" Paige grinned, kissing Emily on top of the head

"And what do you suggest we do then all weekend?" Emily asked raising her eyebrow, leaning back so she could look Paige in the eyes

"Nothing in particular" Paige shrugged with a wide smile "But maybe a little of this"

Paige leaned in to kiss Emily sweetly, her hand coming up to cup the other girls cheek. Emily looped her arms around Paige's neck, pulling her closer and running her

hands through the back of Paige's hair. Paige smiled against Emily's lips for a brief moment before Paige's phone began to ring.

"You going to get that?" Emily whispered in between kisses

"They can leave a message" Paige shook her head with a grin

The phone stopped ringing so Paige pulled Emily closer to herself, Emily's arm's completely wrapping around Paige's neck by this stage, pulling the other girl flush up

against her when Paige's phone began to ring again.

"Okay" Emily said pulling away from Paige "They obviously need you"

"I hope so" Paige grumbled as she reached over to her phone, not bothering to look before she answered "Hello?"

"Paige" She heard Spencer croak on the other side of the call

"Spence?" Paige asked looking to Emily "What's wrong?"

"My parents are out, Melissa is out of town and I just need someone right now" Spencer replied as her voice started to crack "Can you please come over?"

"Spencer, what happened?" Paige asked

"Toby's been cheating on me" Spencer mumbled "I just confronted him then and it was true"

"What?" Paige exclaimed a little louder than she would have liked

"Please just come over" Spencer repeated

"Okay, yeah. I'll be there in a minute" Paige replied as she put her phone down, shaking her head

"What's wrong?" Emily asked

"Toby cheated on Spencer" Paige said

"What?" Emily asked with a furrowed brow "That doesn't sound like something Toby would do"

"They were so solid" Paige said running her hand through her hair _  
_

"I don't understand" Emily shook her head "But it's Toby, there has to be something else going on here, he loves her"

"I've got to go" Paige said not responding to that last statement "Is that okay?"_  
_

"Of course, go be there for your friend" Emily said nodding "I'm going to try and call Toby"

"Thanks" Paige nodded "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Send me a text later and let me know if Spencer is okay" Emily said

"Yep" Paige said as she grabbed her keys from her pocket, kissing the girl in front of her deeply one more time "I love you"

"I love you too" Emily nodded

Paige made her way to Spencers house, which was just around the corner from Emily so she was there in no time. She rushed to the door before she could even

register she had arrived. Spencer opened it slowly, her eyes were red and puffy and she didn't look as neat as usual. Her clothes were crumpled and her hair was

messy; she looked scrambled.

"Spence" Paige said looking at her with sympathetic eyes

Spencer didn't say anything; she didn't need to. She burst out in tears and Paige quickly pulled Spencer into a tight cried into Paige's shoulder and Paige sighed

quietly, trying to pull her best friend in as close as she could possibly manage.

"You know I'm going to have to kill him for breaking your heart like this" Paige said shaking her head "He's basically a dead man walking"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who to call and you were the first person I thought of" Spencer replied as she gained some control over herself

"Hey, I'm glad you called me" Paige nodded "You want to go inside and talk about it?"

"Yeah" Spencer nodded as she pulled away from the hug

Paige moved Spencer into the house, locking the door behind her. The lights were off and a candle was lit in the lounge room where Spencer had been sitting so Paige

turned the light on for Spencer and blew out the candle to give the room some light, making it a little less depressing.

Spencer sat down on the couch and Paige wordlessly sat next to her, Spencer leaned her head on Paige's shoulder, as her friend placed her arm around her waist.

"Where are your parents?" Paige asked

"Dad has a conference so mom went with" Spencer sniffed "I'm sorry, I know you were with Emily. I would have asked Melissa to come over but she's away too"

"It's okay" Paige shook her head "You know I'd do anything for you, Em knows that too"

"Emily is lucky to have you" Spencer mumbled nodding

"So…Spence what happened?" Paige asked reluctantly

"Toby has been a little distant lately…saying he's at work when he's not" Spencer struggled to finish her sentence

"How did you know he wasn't at work?" Paige asked

"I called the company and they said he had left already and when I called him he said he was working on a job" Spencer replied

"When did this happen?" Paige asked

"I found that out 2 weeks ago" Spencer said shrugging

"But you guys looked so happy" Paige shook her head in confusion

"I hadn't confirmed anything then and I didn't want to be crazy and jump to conclusions" Spencer replied shaking her head " I found a shirt in his apartment that

wasn't mine and I saw a message on his phone while he was in the shower. It was Mona. She said she had a great night with him last night and that she looked

forward to it next time. Then tonight I followed him when he went out and I saw him with Mona and they certainly weren't just co-workers. I confronted Toby and he was

stunned, he thought he was doing such a good job with hiding it. Mona didn't care and Toby tried to chase after me but I just left"

"Spence I'm sorry" Paige said shaking her head

Spencer shook slightly and Paige hugged her best friend tightly. Paige's heart broke when Spencers did knowing how much that

relationship meant to her friend.

"I can't imagine how you're feeling right now" Paige whispered "But I'll be here for you every step of the way, I won't leave your side"

"I know" Spencer replied sniffling

"Have you called Aria?" Paige asked

"I left her a message, I'll speak to her tomorrow at work" Spencer said

"You can't go to work tomorrow" Paige replied quickly

"I have to, I can't let him rule my emotions like that" Spencer protested "I'm working"

"Spencer, you're allowed to grieve for the relationship" Paige reasoned "Even if just for one day"

"Not for him though, he cheated on me" Spencer snapped

"I know" Paige replied "Well do whatever you need to but I'm going to come and visit you at work tomorrow"

"Yeah okay" Spencer nodded as she sniffled again and she closed her eyes tightly "I just don't want it to hurt anymore"

"Are you going to speak to him?" Paige asked "Get answers?"

"I don't want to know" Spencer said shaking her head "But I guess I need to talk to him so I can get my stuff back"

"Yeah" Paige replied "It might be a good idea"

"I'm just going to go have a shower" Spencer said pulling away from Paige slowly "I need to clean myself up"_  
_

"You going to be okay?" Paige asked

"Yeah" Spencer said

"Well I'm not going anywhere so come back down when you are finished" Paige replied

"You don't have to" Spencer shook her head

"Of course I do. You're my best friend, I am not going anywhere and I'm certainly not leaving you alone" Paige shook her head "You remember when you literally

picked me up off of the floor when Holly dumped me? You didn't leave my side and you kicked my butt into gear just weeks out from the Olympics. You need me and I

wouldn't be anywhere else right now_"_

Spencer smiled shakily and she looked down to her feet

"Just like I got through it, you will too" Paige nodded "But for now, you get to sit in your pyjamas, watch movies and eat ice cream. Go have a shower and then you

can pick a movie"_  
_

"Yes mom" Spencer joked

Spencer made her way upstairs and Paige pulled out her phone to see she had received a message from Emily while she had been with Spencer

_'Is Spencer okay? As okay as she can be anyway?' – Emily_

_'Not really, I've never seen her so heartbroken before' – Paige_

_'Just make sure you're there for her. I need to find out what is going on from Toby' – Emily_

_'He cheated on her, that's what is going on' – Paige_

_'Toby wouldn't hurt Spencer like that – Emily_

_'He already has' – Paige_

_'I'll call him now' – Emily_

_'I'll never hurt you like that' – Paige_

_'I know. Goodnight, I love you xx' – Emily_

_'Love you too' – Paige_

By the time Paige was done on the phone texting Emily there was a knock on the door. Paige cautiously made her way to the front door and looked through the glass.

It was Toby.

"I know you're in there" She heard Toby speak outside the window "I can see you. Spence please, I just want to talk to you"

Paige opened the door and she stepped outside quickly, closing it behind her with a soft thud

"You can't be here" Paige warned looking to Toby

"Is she inside?" Toby asked

"She doesn't want to see you right now" Paige shook her head "Go home"

"I can't go home" Toby shook his head

"You have broken her heart, you can't come here and speak to her after what happened. You need to leave her alone" Paige replied angrily "The least you could do for

her is go home"

"I just need a minute Paige" Toby said shaking his head "I'm your friend too, you know"_  
_

"I know and that's why it sucks so much but you hurt her, you're the one who cheated" Paige shook her head "Now I'm picking up the pieces you left. I don't

understand it but you need to give her space"

"Paige?" She heard quietly behind her "Who are you talking…"

Paige closed her eyes quickly and she turned around to see Spencer standing by the door, her body almost freezing up as she noticed Toby in front of Paige.

"Go away" Spencer said coldly

"I just want to talk" Toby said

"Go home" Spencer spoke sharply, looking to the ground in front of Toby "You've done enough"

"I'm sorry" Toby said

"Sorry means you won't do it again" Spencer said "Who knows how long you've been doing this for and it hasn't been just the once"

"I know, I made a mistake" Toby tried to reason

"You didn't make a mistake, a mistake is something you do accidently, something that happens on a test" Spencer snapped "You cheated on me, we were in a 3 year

relationship. That isn't a mistake, which is a conscious decision"

"I know and nothing I will ever do will make up for it" Toby said

"No you're right" Spencer said "Because I don't want to see you again"

"Spencer, don't say that" Toby said

"I'll have someone pick up my things from your apartment" Spencer dismissed

With those last words she turned around, turning her back on Toby and shutting the front door behind her loudly

Toby moved to step towards the door but Paige stepped out in front of him bravely, looking down at the ground hoping to avoid his eyes

"Paige, move" Toby demanded

"I can't let you go in there" Paige replied quietly

Toby tried to push past Paige a little too aggressively than what Paige would have liked but she stood strong and unshaken, holding her hands out in front of her.

"Go" Paige said with a stern voice "And think next time before you approach me like that. I'm not sure what is going through your head right now Toby"

Toby turned around with a huff, disappearing to his car but by the noise he was making, it was impossible to miss him leaving.

Paige immediately went back into the house only to find Spencer sitting on on the couch again, staring at the floor.

"Spence" Paige said as she assumed her position she had been, hugging her best friend

"Thank you for getting rid of him" Spencer mumbled

"Of course" Paige said "I'm sleeping here tonight, you need company"

Paige didn't get much sleep that night though; she was worried about Spencer who was restless in the bed next to her all night. When Paige woke up she heard

Veronica downstairs speaking to Spencer, they were mumbling but she could distinctly hear their voices. Paige emerged down the stairs and Veronica looked to her

and she smiled sympathetically

"Thank you for looking after her" Veronica said

"No problem" Paige replied shaking her head "Spence you're not going into work are you?"_  
_

"No, she isn't" Veronica answered

"Well what would you like to do today?" Paige asked

"I think I just want to be alone for a while, you don't need to baby sit me" Spencer admitted

"I don't mind hanging out with you" Paige replied with a sigh "But if you want to be alone then I understand"

"Thanks" Veronica repeated

"You let me know if you need anything" Paige said looking to Spencer "If you need to talk, if you want to go for a run and clear your head...if you want to do some

boxing or something. Actually, maybe I shouldn't suggest that one"

"Thank you Paige" Spencer said cracking a smile

Paige hugged her friend tightly before she made her way to Emily's house. Knocking on the door lightly but pausing when she saw that it was Toby who opened the

door rather than her girlfriend.

"Hey Paige" Toby greeted lowly

"Where's Em?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"Paige" Emily said behind Toby's shoulder "Hey"

"Hi" Paige said with a furrowed brow

"Toby, can Paige and I talk for a minute?" Emily asked looking to her friend

"Sure" Toby said nodding as he looked to Paige before he moved out the way so Emily could move past him and close the door

"What is he doing here?" Paige hissed

"He is my friend, he's our friend" Emily shrugged

"Who just broke my best friends heart" Paige exclaimed as quietly as she could manage "Em, I love Toby but what he did was dumb"

"He made a mistake" Emily said "And we're trying to think of ways he can show Spencer that"

"So you're defending him?" Paige asked

"I'm not defending him" Emily shook her head "I'm being his friend like he has been to me so many times"

"And I'm glad you guys are friends and all" Paige replied shrugging "But I also have to be a friend to Spencer who has been there for me ever since I started going to

school"

"Did she ask you to push him out of your life?" Emily asked

"She didn't need to" Paige said shaking her head "When Samara cheated on you…would you have wanted Hanna to never speak to her again"

"She never spoke to her in the first place" Emily replied spitefully

"Not the point" Paige shook her head

"He deserves a second chance, doesn't everyone?" Emily asked

"Maybe you're kinder than I am but no, not everyone deserves a second chance" Paige said "I mean who knows how long this has been going on for?"

"A few months" Emily said "He told me everything"

"Did he tell you how I had to comfort Spencer all night?" Paige asked as she looked to the house to see Toby watching them from inside before she turned back to her

girlfriend "Did he tell you how sad she looked when she woke up this morning?"

"Paige, I get it" Emily said nodding, holding her hands up in surrender "And I don't like what he did but I am going to help him try to get his life back. If you don't want

to help then you should leave"

"Yeah, maybe I should" Paige nodded as she backed away from the house

"I'll call you later" Emily replied

"Yeah" Paige agreed quickly before she jumped in her car and took off down the street

"Everything okay?" Toby asked as Emily made her way back inside the house

"Yeah, fine" Emily nodded

"I didn't cause a fight, did I?" Toby asked

"No, it's fine" Emily replied "She's just really defensive of Spence, that's all"

"I feel horrible" Toby said shaking his head

"I know" Emily said "We'll figure something out"

Paige found herself sitting outside Aria's house, waiting for her to come home. She was confused, she knew what Toby meant to Emily and she knew that Toby was

really there for her when she needed it. She also knew though what Spencer meant to herself and Emily was very aware of it. Emily hadn't done anything wrong, and

Paige didn't want to convince herself that Emily should have picked her over Toby. She just wanted Emily to know how much Spencer was hurting, she wanted Emily to

understand just what Toby had done because Emily had been through it all before with Samara.

"Paige?" Aria asked as she stepped out her car

"Hey" Paige greeted with a small smile

"You okay?" Aria asked "Not that I mind but you generally don't just sit at my house, waiting for me to come home"

"I know, I'm sorry" Paige replied "I just really needed to talk to you"

"Everything okay?" Aria asked

"I don't know" Paige shook her head "Do you have a minute?"

"I have all the time in the world for you" Aria said with a nod "Come on, let's go inside"

"Spencer told you what happened, right?" Paige asked as she stood from her driveway

"Yeah, she called me" Aria said "I can't believe Toby would do something like that. I mean, he loved her so much"

"Maybe he didn't" Paige muttered

"We know he did though, I mean they have been through everything together" Aria said as she opened up her front door, letting Paige enter the house first "You

need anything?"

"No thanks" Paige shook her head "If she gets back with him, I will be really angry"

"Paige, you can't make that decision for her" Aria said "She has to figure that out herself"

"But if someone cheated on you, would you take them back?" Paige asked

"I don't think it's that easy" Aria replied

"I think it is" Paige said "He cheated on her, he doesn't deserve her. She deserves someone who is going to treat her right"

"You know if I liked girls, I would probably have a major crush on you" Aria joked

"Why?" Paige laughed

"You're pretty much everything a girl wants" Aria replied with a chuckle "Listen, you just need to guide Spencer. Ultimately she needs to make her own decision and I

honestly don't think after Toby hurt her like that, she will give him a second chance. We just have to be here for her"

"I love Toby, I really do but something about him lately has just been off. I mean he practically tried to push me out the way last night to get into Spencer's house"

Paige shook her head "Maybe I need to talk to him again, without Em or Spence"

"Emily was with him?" Aria asked

"She was trying to think of some ideas to help him win back Spencer" Paige said

"Em see's the best in everyone, you know that" Aria said "I think she just wants to see them happy again"

"She didn't see the state I saw Spencer when I went to see her yesterday" Paige shook her head

"Talk to her about it" Aria said "You guys can't let something like this get in the way of your relationship"

"We won't" Paige shook her head

"You and Em just work so well together" Aria replied "I don't want to see you lose that. You deserve to have her and she deserves someone as great as you"

"Yeah, I will talk to her" Paige said nodding

That night, Paige went back to Emily's house. She knocked on the door and waited patiently for Emily to open it. She stood there for a minute before Emily emerged;

hair wet, in her pyjamas with a towel over her shoulder.

"A few minutes too late huh?" Paige joked lightly

"I was going to call you" Emily said quietly "You want to come inside?"

"Yes please" Paige nodded as Emily moved aside for her

"I'm sorry about before, I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable in my house" Emily said closing the door behind Paige "That's the last thing I want"

"No it's okay, I'm sorry I was being a jerk" Paige shook her head

"You weren't a jerk" Emily replied "I wasn't thinking about the situation I was putting you in"

"I just don't want to mess this up, I don't want to mess _us_ up" Paige said with an underlying tone of vulnerability

"Nothing is going to do that" Emily said as she approached Paige, placing both of her hands on Paige's cheeks "We won't let that happen"

"I just thought Toby and Spencer would be together forever" Paige shrugged "It's always been those two together, even when they weren't actually dating"

"I know" Emily nodded "That's kind of why I want to help Toby. Spencer loves him, they're happier when they are together"

"But would they be happier knowing that what has happened, is hanging over their heads?" Paige asked "Would you have stayed with Samara having that hanging

over your relationship?"

"No, I wouldn't" Emily admitted "But she wasn't worth it. Toby knows that Spencer is worth it and hopefully Spencer knows that Toby is worth it. I don't think they

would have been together for so long if they didn't think they would be together for life"

"Sometimes, it just doesn't work" Paige replied shrugging

"Would you say that if it was us in this situation?" Emily asked

"You wouldn't cheat on me" Paige shook her head

"But what would you say? Would you say that sometimes things just don't work out?" Emily asked

"No" Paige shook her head

"Why?" Emily asked

"Because I love you. Because for the first time in my life I feel like I have somewhere to call my home and that is thanks to you" Paige said as she averted her gaze to t

he floor below her "Because I have never really thought about my future with someone until I met you"

Emily sighed and she took a few steps towards Paige, wrapping her arms around her neck tightly, pulling her into a hug.

"I love you too" Emily whispered

"I'm sorry I just walked out before" Paige said

"No, it's okay" Emily replied as she pulled away from the hug "I understand why you want to keep Toby away from Spencer and I am mad at Toby for what he has

done but I also believe he deserves a second chance"

"I know" Paige nodded

"I know that Spencer is your sister, blood relation or not. Toby is like my brother" Emily shrugged "He is the first one that I came out to and he gave me the strength to

come out to everyone else. I can't ever thank him enough for that so I have to help him. He's going to give Spencer her space for a while and when she is ready to talk

to him, he will"

"I just didn't think it was appropriate for him to come over to her house, right after it happened" Paige explained

"He definitely shouldn't have done that" Emily shook her head

"I guess people do deserve second chances" Paige nodded "If I did something to hurt you, I would want a second chance"

"As would I" Emily nodded

"You're too smart and kind for your own good" Paige joked

"I'm going to Hanna's in the morning, she is going to have breakfast with Aria and Spencer said she would come" Emily began to speak "You should come, I know

Spencer would love to have you there"

"Yeah, I'll come" Paige nodded

"Good" Emily smiled "Will you stay here tonight?"

"I would love to" Paige replied with a smile, leaning into kiss her quickly

"I'm happy that I found you" Emily said "That an Olympic champion would want to date a lawyer"

"I'm not an Olympian around you, you know that" Paige replied "I'm just Paige McCullers"

"I happen to like just Paige McCullers" Emily smiled

"She happens to like you too" Paige nodded

* * *

**Not the best chapter, I know but it is important in the structure of this story! Things are about to get crazy in the next few chapters so keep an eye out. Enjoy the new PLL ep tonight, I know I will! Please review and let me know what you think! **

**Dani :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi All! Hope you're having a good end to your week! I thought I would update now seeing as I won't be home all weekend. Thank you for all the reviews, i really appreciate the feedback. Thanks to the guest reviewers as well who I wasn't able to personally say thanks to. Hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think! **

**Paige is playing a bit of the middle man in this chapter, the story is starting to pick back up again so I hope you like it. Have a great weekend! Oh and also, how good were those Paily moments on PLL this week? So good! **

* * *

The next morning Paige and Emily managed to pull themselves out of bed to go to Hanna's house. They were the first ones to arrive, right before Aria and Spencer

walking in at the same time. Paige hugged Spencer tightly, who was putting on a brave face for her friends but Paige knew Spencer was hurting.

"So who's hungry?" Hanna asked breaking the ice "Because I have been cooking all morning"

"You have?" Emily asked raising her eyebrow

"Well I put toast in the toaster" Hanna shrugged "The rest of the stuff Caleb did and we bought"

"Well I think it's a great idea anyway" Aria said with a shrug "Having us all catch up"

"How's Braxton going?" Spencer asked

"He's good" Hanna nodded "We haven't let him leave out sights but he is good"

"You haven't seen that car around here again?" Paige asked

"No, not since last week" Hanna said "And they're smart not coming back because I would take some serious revenge on whoever they are"

"We'll find who was driving that car" Spencer said

"Just like we're finding who killed Ali?" Hanna asked

"Han" Emily warned her friend

"We're no closer to finding either of them" Hanna shook her head "I mean what are the police doing to help?"

"Well they've taken the sweater for testing and that's gotten us nowhere" Aria said

"We need to get the police to do something then" Hanna said "Em, your mom works at the station, can't you get her to do something?"

"You know she is just an administrator, right?" Emily asked

"She's still on the inside" Hanna shrugged

"Do we actually have any idea as to who it could have been if it wasn't Garrett?" Spencer asked

"All I know is that whoever it is, we need to be scared of them" Emily said "Whoever did this set Garrett up to look like he was guilty so imagine what else this person

is capable of"

"What if they aren't around anymore?" Aria asked "I mean, it's been so long since this all happened"

"If they were smart, they would be as far away from her as possible" Spencer said shaking her head

"But if they're not, they'll be back to cover their tracks" Emily said "Now that Garrett isn't taking the fall for them"

"So basically, everyone is a suspect" Paige said

"We were the biggest suspects in the beginning" Emily admitted "I mean we were some of the last people to see her alive"

"And you can't think of anyone who would want to do this to her?" Paige asked "Maybe someone who isn't around anymore?"

"That's like asking a blind person to find Waldo" Hanna said before pausing at the reaction to her friends "What? It sounded better in my head"

"What Hanna is trying to say is that a lot of people had a lot of reasons to want to take her out" Spencer said "She wasn't the kindest person"

"She had her redeeming qualities though" Emily said

"You see the good in everyone though" Spencer replied "She had something on all of us"

"Then why were you her friend?" Paige asked

"She had her moments" Aria admitted with a nod "She was horrible sometimes but Ali wasn't all that bad"

"Someone had a reason to want to kill her" Paige said "And they did so why can't they be found?"

"They don't want to be found" Spencer shook her head

"Great, so not only do we have to worry about this person…we have to worry about the crazy driving that SUV" Hanna said

"We'll find them" Emily said looking at her friends "We just have to start over"

"Meanwhile we just have to keep everyone we love locked inside" Hanna said

"We don't know why someone tried to hit Braxton" Spencer said

"I don't think we need to know why, it happened" Aria said "And if wasn't for Paige, who knows what could have happened"

"That I agree on" Hanna nodded

"They almost hit her as well, you know?" Emily asked looking to Hanna "I'm worried for Paige as well but we can't let them stop our lives"

"So where do we go from here?" Aria asked

"I don't know" Emily shook her head "Keep your head down but your eyes up"

"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't over yet?" Hanna asked

"Because you're probably right" Spencer said

"You shouldn't have to worry about this Spence" Paige said taking a few steps towards her friend

"If I don't concentrate on this, I get to concentrate on my boyfriend cheating on me with his boss" Spencer said dryly "I think I would rather focus on this"

Paige looked towards Emily, who pursed her lips in concern

"Spence, if there's anything we can do to help…" Aria began

"I need someone to take Toby's stuff back to him" Spencer offered

"I'll do it" Paige said quickly "I have talk to him anyway"

"You do?" Emily asked

"I can't leave it where we left it" Paige said looking to Spencer "When he came to your house"

"That's fine" Spencer nodded "I've got a box at my house"

"I'll come grab it after breakfast" Paige replied

"Speaking of breakfast, Caleb and I didn't work all day for it to go to waste" Hanna said "Eat, all of you"

After breakfast, Paige dropped Emily home so she could do some work on a case and she went by Spencer's to pick up the box of Toby's stuff. She could see the pain it

was causing Spencer to have there so she happily took the box off her hands.

Toby's house wasn't too far from her own so it took her no time to get there but when she did arrive, something made her pause. She noticed a black SUV sitting on

the other side of the road to Toby's house. She couldn't remember the number plate, and how could she have? She was too busy concentrating on trying to stop

Braxton getting hit. She knew it was that same car though, she was sure of it. Paige quickly got out of the car, grabbing the box and walking to Toby's quickly. She

pressed the doorbell and watched the street while she waited for Toby, to see whether anyone would go and claim the car while she was there.

"Paige" Toby said

"Oh, hey" Paige said turning away from the street to face Toby

"I'm guessing that's for me?" He asked, gesturing to the box in her arms

"Yeah, Spencer wanted you to have it" Paige said

"I know you don't think I deserve a second chance with Spencer but she is the best thing that has ever happened to me" Toby said

"So why did you cheat on her then?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"It was dumb" Toby said "And I shouldn't have done it"

"You're right" Paige said "I do feel bad for you though because you two were great together"

"I just want her to give me another chance" Toby said

"She'll give you a chance if she wants to" Paige said "But you've really hurt her"

"I know I have" Toby said "I'm just lucky I have friends like Emily to help me with trying to get her back"

"Sometimes she is too kind though" Paige replied shaking her head

"She is" Toby nodded "I know I don't deserve her help right now"

"She thinks you do" Paige sighed "So I guess that means something"

"I just hope you can forgive me in time too" Toby said

"We're fine Toby, I'm just upset that you broke her heart" Paige replied honestly

"I know" Toby nodded

"Whose car is that?" Paige asked looking over to the black SUV again

"Mona's" Toby said "Or it was Mona's, she's lending it to me while my truck gets repaired"

"What's wrong with your truck?" Paige asked

"Just needed a few repairs" Toby shrugged

"When did you get it?" Paige asked

"Not that long ago" Toby replied "I have to get going to work soon, got a job to take care of"

"Right, yeah" Paige said as she handed the box to him before backing away slightly

"How long has Mona had this car?"

"It's pretty new, she has a few cars so she didn't mind lending it to me" Toby shrugged "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine" Paige nodded "I'll see you later"

Paige moved away from the house towards the car once he had shut the door. She looked back to Toby's house before approaching the car slowly. It was sparkling

clean; it looked like it had never been used more than a couple of times. She moved to the side of the car, crouching as she looked at the rims. She noticed the rims

had been cleaned as much as the rest of the car but there were small scrapes that were only noticeable if you were looking at them. She furrowed her eyebrows,

remembering the sound of the car as it hit the gutter, steering towards Braxton as he stood in the street.

"Why so interested in this car?" Toby asked

"Oh" Paige said as her heart skipped a beat while she stood up quickly "Just having a look, I need to get a new car soon"

"I didn't know you were looking for a new car" Toby said

"Well I've recently been inspired to get one, this is nice" Paige said nodding

"It can certainly pick up some speed if you're not paying attention" Toby replied

"Does that happen often?" Paige asked

"Sometimes" Toby said with a nod "I have to go"

"Right" Paige replied "See you around"

She made her way back to her car and watched as Toby looked down to his rim and then back to Paige, who ducked her head to pretend to look at her phone. He

soon got into the car before starting the car with the unforgettable roar that would haunt Paige for a while. She jumped slightly as he took off in haste; she placed her

car into drive after a few moments and decided to follow Toby. She wasn't sure what she was thinking; she knew that Toby wouldn't do anything to harm anyone. She

just wasn't sure about Mona. She didn't know why Mona would have any reason to harm anyone though; she didn't know her well enough.

Paige tailed Toby, leaving a few cars gap between them the whole way. She soon saw him pull the car up outside a large house, exiting swiftly before he knocked on

the door. When it opened, Paige wasn't too surprised to see Mona opening up the door with a grin on her face, grabbing Toby by the shirt and pulling him inside.

* * *

Later that day, Paige made her way to the brew where she was going to meet Emily for a coffee before she dropped into work. She messaged Emily to tell her that

she was going to be a little late. When she finally got there, she found her girlfriend sitting with a coffee at a table by herself.

"This seat taken?" Paige asked with a smile

"Hey" Emily grinned widely

"You know, I kind of feel like I haven't seen you in a while even though it's only been a few hours" Paige admitted as she leaned down to kiss Emily softly before

taking a seat next to her

"I know" Emily laughed "We have a problem"

"And I'm happy with that problem" Paige shrugged "You still going into work after this?"

"Yeah, I've just got some case notes I need to take care of while it's quiet" Emily replied "What are you going to do?"

"I might go for a run maybe" Paige shrugged

"By yourself?" Emily asked, flinching slightly

"I usually go by myself" Paige replied, arching her eyebrow in confusion

"We just haven't really done much alone since the whole Braxton thing" Emily admitted

"Em, I'll be fine" Paige nodded "We can't let whoever did this win and stop our lives"

"I know" Emily replied "I just…ever since you were almost run over, I think of what could have happened because of me"

"How many times do I have to tell you that it wasn't your fault?" Paige asked "I thought we were passed that"

"We are" Emily nodded "But I'm not going to stop worrying about you. I love you"

"And I love you too" Paige replied

"So what took you so long?" Emily asked

"I had an unexpected detour" Paige shrugged

"What did you do?" Emily laughed

"I went to take Toby his things" Paige said

"Did you and Toby talk?" Emily asked

"Of course we did" Paige nodded

"And?" Emily asked hopefully

"He explained himself a little better" Paige admitted "Did you know his car is in for repairs?"

"Is that what he told you?" Emily asked

"What did he tell you?" Paige asked

"He's been working so hard lately that Mona gave him a new car" Emily said "A reward I guess"

"Sleeping with her isn't reward enough?" Paige snapped

"Paige" Emily warned quietly

"I followed him" Paige admitted "He told me that his car is in for repairs and he was using Mona's car. He then told me that he had to get to work and he drove to

Mona's house, who greeted him at the door and it sure didn't look like a business meeting"

"You followed him?" Emily raised her eyebrows

"Have you seen what car he is driving?" Paige asked

"No" Emily shook her head

"A black SUV. One exactly the same as the one that almost hit Braxton" Paige replied

"Okay, there are plenty of black SUV's around Rosewood" Emily reasoned

"The whole car was cleaned from head to toe but there were scratches on the front left hand rim of the car" Paige explained

"He hasn't had the car for that long" Emily shook her head "If you're suggesting it was Toby…"

"I'm not suggesting it was Toby as much as I think Mona had something to do with it" Paige replied

"Why would Mona have anything against Hanna or a kid?" Emily asked

"I don't know" Paige shook her head

"You sure you really think that the car was the one used to almost run you over?" Emily asked

"Not 100% but I'm pretty sure" Paige replied

Emily nodded, looking around the room and ducking her head

"Keep this to yourself for now, okay?" Emily asked

"Why?" Paige asked

"Because if this is true, we have to be very careful who we talk to and what we say" Emily said "We don't know who is capable of this and what else they are willing to

do to make this go away"

"Okay" Paige nodded

"You really shouldn't go playing detective, it's dangerous" Emily chastised

"Don't get mad at me, get mad at Toby for going back to Mona while he says he wants to fix his relationship with Spencer" Paige said smartly

"It's just so out of character for him" Emily said shaking her head "I don't understand"

"I don't know either" Paige shrugged "We have to tell Spencer though"

"We can't" Emily said quickly "It's not our business to tell"

* * *

"Knock knock" Paige heard as she sat at her desk on Thursday morning, shuffling through some papers at the swim school

She looked up to see Toby standing in the doorway with a box in his hands

"Toby?" Paige asked with a furrowed brow

"I hope you don't mind" He said holding out the box "I figured Spence would want her stuff back and I know she doesn't want to see me. I thought you could maybe

give it to her?"

"Oh" Paige said standing from her desk "Yeah, okay"

"Thanks" He nodded, placing the box on the corner of the desk closest to the door "I hope I don't make you feel uncomfortable being in the middle here"

"I'm not in the middle" Paige said honestly "How serious are you about getting back with Spence?"

"Very" Toby said "Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to know" Paige replied "Em told me that you said to her Mona gave you that car as a reward for your hard work?"

"Yeah" Toby said scratching the back of his head "It started off as a lend and then she gave it to me. She's pretty kind like that"

"I'll bet she is" Paige nodded "Are you going to get a new job?"

"A new job?" Toby asked

"If you're serious about getting Spence back, you might want to keep your distance from Mona" Paige suggested

"I am" Toby said "It's all strictly business"

Paige paused, she wasn't too sure why Toby was lying about not seeing Mona on a personal basis.

"Can I ask you something?" Paige asked

"Of course" Toby nodded

"Where were you Friday afternoon a few weeks ago?" Paige asked

"Where was I?" Toby asked

"Yeah, what were you doing?" Paige asked

"You mean when you were almost run over?" Toby asked raising an eyebrow

"Yeah" Paige nodded

"You think that I did it?" Toby asked, almost laughing, "You're not serious are you?"

"I just want to know where you were" Paige said, "I'm not saying anything but I just want to know where you were that day"

"I was working actually" Toby said "We had a job outside of town. You can ask Mona"

"I'm not going to ask Mona, I just wanted to know" Paige shrugged

"I understand that you're angry with me but you don't need to treat me like a criminal Paige" Toby said as he began backing out of the doorway "I'm your friend too,

you know"

"Everything okay here?" Jason asked as he stepped out from behind Toby

"Fine, I was just leaving" Toby mumbled

With that, he turned around with his head down and Paige watched him leave the complex before turning her attention to Jason.

"Was he bothering you?" Jason asked

"I was probably bothering him" Paige replied with a sigh

"I've never liked Toby Cavanaugh" Jason grumbled "I know you're his friend but he rubs me the wrong way"

"He does?" Paige asked

"Well I heard that he cheated on Spencer" Jason said shaking his head

"You heard that, huh?" Paige asked

"He was a bit of a creep when it came to Alison" Jason said

"What do you mean?" Paige asked

"He had a thing for her and she couldn't stand him" Jason replied "At least, that's what I saw"

"I'm just not understanding him at the moment" Paige shook her head

"Sometimes you think you know someone and it turns out you have no idea" Jason said "It's happened to me many times. I mean, I used to call Garret a friend of

mine"

"How is your family going, with everything?" Paige asked curiously

"We'll be better when this person is rightfully charged" Jason said "And we're not going to be okay until that happens"

Paige nodded and she sat back down at her desk

"Looks like you have another visitor" Jason said nodding towards the door to see Emily making her way to the office with a purposeful stride

Paige jumped up from her seat, walking her way from her desk to meet her halfway

"Hey" Paige said with a smile "Everything okay?"

"Can I speak to you outside?" Emily asked looking at Jason behind her who had his hands on his hips, watching them closely

"Yeah, of course" Paige nodded

"They found a coat" Emily said as they reached the outside of the complex

"Who?" Paige asked

"The Police, it was buried outside of her old house" Emily said

"So they think it has something to do with the murder?" Paige asked

"They're testing it to see if that fabric sample is the same but it's the same colour blue" Emily said "it has to be it"

"It was buried outside of the house?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"Believe it or not, a dog dug it out" Emily said

"Is that why you couldn't tell Jason?" Paige asked "That why you asked me to come out here?"

"Jason doesn't know yet, it's probably best that the police contact him about it" Emily said "Which I imagine they will very soon"

"Wow" Paige said "So this coat could belong to whoever killed Alison"

"More than likely" Emily nodded "I'm going down to the police station to meet Veronica. The girls and I are meeting at my house tonight, come after you finish work this

afternoon"

"Spencer going?" Paige asked

"Probably, why?" Emily asked

"I've got her stuff, Toby dropped it in" Paige said "You would have just missed him"

"Okay, well bring it to my house" Emily said

"Are you okay?" Paige asked "With all this going on, it's got to be hard for you"

"I'm fine" Emily nodded "But you're sweet for asking"

"So I'll see you at your house then?" Paige asked

"Stay over?" Emily asked quietly

"I gladly" Paige nodded "I'll see you this afternoon"

"I love you" Emily spoke quietly as she leaned in to kiss Paige for a moment, pulling away after hearing Paige return her sentiment in between their kiss.

* * *

**So let me know what you think! Hope you liked it. Not my best work but I'm trying to give the story some substance. Happy Friday, have a brilliant day and weekend! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys, I'm sorry that this has taken so long to update! I just haven't had much time as of late! Thanks for your reviews! Hopefully you guys like this chapter, let me know what you think and review! I really love your feedback so please review. I'd probably suggest going back to the last chapter and reading it just to catch up again if you have forgotten what happened last chapter :)**

**Hope you guys are all having a great week so far! **

* * *

That afternoon Paige made her way to Emily's only to find the girls had all beaten her there. When she entered the house, she noticed that all the girls were sitting

quietly in the lounge room, but strangely no one was talking.

"Everything okay?" Paige asked as she followed Emily into the room

"As much as it can be" Emily nodded

"Spence" Paige said as she stood in front of her with a cardboard box full of her possessions

She looked up to Paige and paused for a moment

"Toby gave that to you?" Spencer asked quietly

"He dropped it off to me at work" Paige replied "Thought you might want your things back"

"He was right" Spencer nodded "Thanks Paige"

"He hasn't come over again, has he?" Paige asked

"No, I haven't heard from him" Spencer replied with a sigh

"If he comes around again…you just let me know" Paige said sitting next to her best friend

"Thanks" Spencer nodded

"So what did you find out?" Paige asked looking to Emily who was pacing at the front of the room

"Nothing, the police told her nothing" Hanna said with a frustrated sigh

"They have only just told Ali's family that they found it" Emily explained "They can't tell us much right now"

"We need to know" Aria said "We need to know what they know, we have a right"

"We actually don't" Spencer admitted with a shrug

"Victoria and I are working on it" Emily nodded "In the mean time, we can't mention this to anyone"

"Because we don't know who the coat belongs to?" Paige asked

"Yes" Emily nodded

"So how are we going to find out just exactly how this coat looks if they aren't going to tell us?" Hanna asked

"We'll figure something out" Emily replied

"So a dog just dug it up?" Aria asked "Outside her house? Just like that?"

"I guess whoever did it didn't think that someone would find it there" Emily shrugged "Or they were just sick and buried it outside her house to cause her family pain"

"I would rule on the latter" Spencer noted

"We just have to stick together right now" Emily said "We all have so much going on right now, we just have to unite while all of this is being figured out. Present a

united front"

"Just like old times" Hanna sighed quietly

"Do the police have any leads at all?" Aria asked

"I don't think so" Emily shook her head "Things are up in the air but finding this coat is a major breakthrough. They can do testing on it and we can finally close this

chapter of our lives"

"Let's be honest though, do you really think a coat is going to close this case?" Spencer asked moving to sit on the edge of her seat "Do we really think it's going to be

easy as finding a coat?"

"No" Emily shook her head

"It's a start though, right?" Paige asked looking to her girlfriend who nodded in affirmation

"It is one step further in the process to where we were before it was found" Emily said "We're going back first thing in the morning to see if they can give us anything

else"

"And that's it?" Hanna asked

"For now" Emily nodded

"I have to get home, I'm having some issues leaving Braxton home at the moment" Hanna said "He keeps having nightmares about that damn car"

"I know the feeling" Paige joked

"I should get going too" Aria nodded as she stood

"Me too" Spencer agreed "Got a game to plan for"

"Okay well I'll call you all tomorrow" Emily said "If you hear anything around, let me know. This is going to break in the news tomorrow so no doubt whoever did this is

going to start getting scared. We need to be careful"

The girls made their way out of the house, leaving Paige sitting on the couch by herself until Emily came back from locking the door behind them.

"Is it just me or did they seem really jumpy?" Paige asked

"It's scary" Emily admitted "The police found some hard evidence just sitting in front of us all, buried in a yard"

"Did they not check the house when it happened?" Paige asked

"They did, I don't know how they missed it" Emily replied shaking her head

"You look exhausted Em" Paige said sympathetically as her girlfriend sat down next to her, leaning her head on her shoulder

"That's because I am" Emily replied

"You need to get some sleep" Paige said

"Only if you're staying here" Emily said as she chuckled slightly "I'm starting to suspect that I can't get a decent sleep without you"

"I know what you mean" Paige replied "Which might make it a little difficult when I go away for events"

"You have any coming up?" Emily asked

"Plenty" Paige nodded "But I'm not attending any of them anytime soon"

"What?" Emily asked lifting her head from Paige's shoulder "What do you mean?"

"I have sponsor events coming up and some appearances but I'm pushing them all back" Paige said "I'm not leaving your side until this whole thing is solved"

"Why knows how long that could take Paige" Emily shook her head

"I don't care" She replied quickly "I just care about you. You're more important to me than any sponsor"

"That's your livelihood though" Emily replied

"I still get sponsored and interviewed. I can still do promotions" Paige said "I can just do it from Rosewood for now. I have let everyone know that and they are fine.

Might have something to do with me winning medals last year but at least they are fine with it"

"So you just decided all of this without mentioning it?" Emily asked

"You have enough to worry about" Paige said "I'm a big girl, I can worry about myself and handle myself. I have been doing this for a while"

"I just don't want you to have to put your life on hold for me" Emily shook her head "I don't want to hold you back"

"You're not holding me back" Paige sighed "I don't know why you're even thinking that"

"I went and did something today" Emily admitted "And I wasn't sure if I was going to bring it up tonight but I don't see why not"

"You get a tattoo?" Paige joked "Love heart with the word mom?"

"No" Emily laughed "Though I suppose this could be pretty permanent. At least I hope it will be"

"You got a dog?" Paige asked looking around

"Nope" Emily shook her head as she stood from the couch "You should stop guessing, you'll never get it"

"I could guess it" Paige said "But I don't want to take away your thunder, so let me have it"

"I went and got something done" Emily said walking into the kitchen, returning with her right hand clinched in a ball "Seeing as I have come to the realisation that I

can't sleep without you"

"You're going to punch me?" Paige asked looking to Emily's shaking fist

She laughed quietly before opening her hand up, something resting in her palm as she held it out for Paige.

"It's a key to my house" Emily said "I just want you to have it so you can come and go as you please. I want you around as much as I can have you. I'll admit, I would

love to be selfish and have you most nights"

"That's not selfish" Paige said standing from the couch, approaching her in a few brave strides "That's exactly what I want"

"So you'll take the key then?" Emily asked hopefully

"I would love that" Paige nodded as she took the key from Emily's hand, before stealing a kiss from Emily's lips.

As she went to pull away though, Emily placed her hand on the back of her neck. Not allowing her to move from her place, flush up against her. Paige wasn't too

concerned so she moved her hands to Emily's perfect waist, gripping tightly at the material of her shirt.

"You sure you want to give me this?" Paige asked as they broke from their kiss "I mean, you might not be able to get rid of me"

"Very sure" Emily nodded with a grin

"I love you" Paige said as her smile grew to the widest it had been for a while "So much Emily Fields"

"I love you too" Emily replied quickly "No matter what's going on, you always seem to make me smile"

"Me too" Paige agreed before she paused "I probably would have been more shocked about the tattoo though"

Emily laughed quietly to herself while she shook her head

"You're a dork" Emily laughed

"Why thank you" Paige said as she continued to grin "Thank you for this, it means a lot"

"Thank you for taking it" Emily replied

"Let's get you to bed, huh?" Paige asked "We have plenty of time to smile like idiots at each other. You're exhausted"

"I don't mind when it's you" Emily said happily

"So I guess this means I should get a key cut for you" Paige said thoughtfully

"No, you don't have to" Emily shook her head "I just wanted to give you it"

"I want the same thing Em" Paige said "And I didn't think that I would find anyone after Holly who would make me feel like this…but here you are"

"Here we are" Emily said with a smile "Come on, let's get to bed"

"You do need to sleep" Paige nodded

"Who said anything about sleeping?" Emily asked smartly with a smirk

The next morning Paige went to her swim classes, she had Braxton first up and Emily had agreed she was going to take him with Hanna. She set herself up then made

her way to her office overlooking the complex to finish off some paper work she had been struggling to finish.

"Did you ever think you would be back in Rosewood doing this for a living?" Jason asked "Well part of your living"

"Can't say I did" Paige said "But I'm glad I'm here"

"If you didn't have Em though, would you have stayed?" Jason asked

"I don't know" Paige shrugged "I guess I don't have to think about it though"

"Can I ask you something?" Jason asked

"Sure" Paige nodded

"Did Emily know about the coat yesterday?" Jason asked "Is that why she was here?"

"Jason" Paige began

"And you went the whole day not telling me?" Jason asked

"I wasn't allowed to" Paige said

"Why not?" Jason asked "She was my sister"

"I know and I'm sorry that I didn't but we thought that police would handle it the best" Paige replied "I wanted to"

"Does she know anything else?" Jason asked "Has she found anything else out from them?"

"No" Paige said honestly "I swear to you Jason, she knows nothing more. I am truly sorry Jason but I didn't want to be the one to drop that bomb on you. I didn't

know all the details"

"I know" Jason said as he rubbed his eyes "I'm sorry"

"Don't be sorry" Paige replied

"This whole thing is just stressing me out" Jason said

"I can't even imagine" Paige sympathised as she looked out to see most of her class out by the pool "I've got to get out there Jason"

"Yeah I know" Jason replied "I'm sorry about that"

"It's fine" Paige shook her head before she went down to the pool where she spotted Emily sitting with Hanna on the bleachers

"Aunt Paige" Braxton said with a small as he appeared in front of Paige

"Hey buddy" Paige smiled "Ready to swim?"

"Yes" He replied enthusiastically

"Great" Paige nodded

The class went as smooth as it had ever gone. The kids were loving having Paige as a coach and Paige was loving doing it. After class Paige was chatting to a few

parents before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Hanna standing behind her, a small smile on her face.

"Excuse me" Paige said to the parents before she took a few steps towards her friend "What's up?"

"I kind of just wanted to say that I'm glad you took that key off Emily" Hanna said shrugging "It meant a lot to her"

"It meant a lot to me too" Paige nodded "She told you about it?"

"Of course she did" Hanna replied "She was so nervous about it"

"She didn't need to be" Paige shrugged

"Good" Hanna said with a smile

"What are you guys talking about?" Emily asked approaching the two

"You" Hanna said honestly

"Okay" Emily laughed

"Jason knows you told me about the coat yesterday" Paige said looking to Emily

"Is he okay?" Emily asked "I should go talk to him"

"No, don't" Paige replied "I've spoken to him about it so I don't think we should make it any worse by bringing it up again"

"Hey listen, did you want to let yourself in tonight?" Emily asked

"With my shiny, new key?" Paige said with a smile

"I'll be at work late tonight, I have to go in after this but we should hang out when I get home" Emily suggested

"I think my neighbours probably forget that I'm living there" Paige joked "But it's worth it"

"Okay, great" Emily said with a smile before turning to Hanna "What?"

"You guys are so cute and so gross at the same time" Hanna said "I don't know what to do"

"We should get going" Emily said as she spotted Braxton come out of the change rooms

"Yeah okay, I'll see you tonight then" Paige said, leaning over to peck Emily on the lips "See you later Han"

"Bye Paige" Hanna replied with a wave

After the class had finished, Paige had a gap between her other classes so she returned to her desk to find Jason sitting in his office, staring at his computer

"Are you going to be here late tonight?" Paige asked

"I plan on getting out of here as soon as I can" Jason said turning to his friend "Why?"

"Well I was going to ask whether I could use the key and stay late" Paige said "it's been a while since I could just swim and enjoy it. Some time to myself might be

nice"

"As I've said before; as long as you lock up, I don't mind" Jason replied, turning back to his computer screen "Knock yourself out"

"Thanks" She nodded

The day passed by, Jason soon left the complex once all the classes were done and Paige locked the door behind him when he was gone. The turned some music on

and sat on the edge of the heated pool with a small smile on her face.

It had been a while since she had been able to do something in peace by herself and it was the one thing that she loved the most. She got into the water, feeling the

chill for a moment before she ducked her head under and pushing off the side of the pool to start her laps. Her shoulder was giving her a little trouble but it was

nothing that was going to make her stop swimming. She smiled to herself underwater as she remembered the look on Emily's face when she held out the key to her

house. Paige hadn't expected them to move so fast, she hadn't expected anything coming to Rosewood.

After what she guessed amounted to around 30 laps, the world underwater went dark. She lifted her head from the water to find that all of the lights had been turned

off. The music had stopped and the cleaner in the pool sounded like it had stopped as well. She paused when she heard a sound coming from the direction of the door.

"Hello?" Paige asked as she looked around for any sign of light or movement

The only thing she could see was the timer clock in the corner of the complex but she knew her phone was sitting on the edge of the pool and could use that light to

see a little better.

"Anyone there?" Paige asked again as she slowly began making her way to the edge of the pool, all the while keeping an eye out for anything else around her

Paige ducked under the lane rope to get to the edge and when she looked up to the side of the pool, she saw someone standing over her. She was too late in

noticing though as the person quickly grabbed the top of Paige's head and pushed her roughly under the water.

It took her by surprise and she was shocked at what was happening. She didn't really register in the first few seconds what was happening until she realised that the

person was not going to let her up. She struggled against the person, scratching and squeezing their hands but they were not letting her up. She began to feel light

headed, she was swallowing a lot of water and she wasn't sure what she was going to do or how she was going to get out of the situation. She saw her phone fall

into the pool beside her, phone sunk to the bottom of the pool and Paige knew she couldn't last much longer.

Just as she felt like she was going to pass out, losing the strength in her legs and arms to try and stay up, she heard a voice yelling.

She felt the hands let go of her and she floated towards the top of the water, she had no strength to pull herself up so she was grateful when she felt someone grab

her by the shoulder and pull her out. Her vision was blurry for a moment before she could see who was standing over her; it was Jason.

"Paige, Paige" He said as he rolled her over to her side "You're alright, I'm calling the ambulance right now. You're alright"

"Did you see who it was?" Paige asked before she began coughing up pool water

"Someone in a black hoodie. They left as soon as I yelled out" He said as he pulled out his phone "Just stay on your side and don't move. We'll get you to hospital"

"I'm okay" Paige replied

"I think you swallowed a lot of water" Jason said placing his phone to his ear

Paige was taken to the hospital immediately and Jason went with her. He talked to the police while he waited for Paige at the hospital and he called Emily who called

the other girls.

Paige was evaluated but she was able to get out of emergency room pretty quickly, news of another hospital visit for Paige McCullers had spread quickly. The outside

of the hospital began to quickly become a press centre. Paige was made to contact her manager pretty quickly and he was working with her publicist to prepare and

release a statement.

Jason quickly explained to Emily what had happened as soon as she arrived at the hospital. She was only waiting for an hour for Paige but she felt as if it may have

well as been a day or two the way time was passing for her.

"There she is" Spencer said standing from her seat in the waiting room

Paige slowly walked out of the ward she was in, the doctor following closely behind her.

"Paige" Emily croaked as she rushed to hug Paige tightly "Are you okay?!"

"I'm okay Em" Paige replied, trying to reassure her girlfriend as much as possible "I'm okay"

"She needs to be supervised tonight; someone needs to be at her side at all times. She swallowed a lot of water and that is going to put her in some discomfort

tonight" The doctor said "She needs to sleep on her side tonight"

"I'll be with her, I'll make sure she's okay" Emily nodded as Paige moved from her arms "Thank you doctor"

"If she starts feeling unwell, bring her back immediately" He said seriously

"Okay" Emily replied "I will keep a close eye on her"

"Thank you" Paige said turning to the doctor

"No problems" He said

"How are you feeling?" Aria asked

Emily placed her arm around Paige's waist, wanting to feel close to her girl

"I'm okay" Paige said "I kind of just want to go home"

"We'll get you home soon" Emily replied "I just think we should wait a little while until we leave. There are some reporters out the front"

"Right" Paige nodded

"But sit down" Spencer said reaching out to take Paige's hand and leading her to a seat

"Em?" Paige asked as she gestured towards the free seat next to her

"Yeah" Emily nodded, taking the seat next to Paige, leaning her head on Paige's shoulder

"Where's Jason?" Paige asked

"He had to go back to the pool" Emily said "The police are looking around the place; someone broke in through the door after they cut the power"

"So you know what happened?" Paige asked

"You don't remember?" Emily asked

"I didn't see anything" Paige shook her head

"Someone cut the power and then they broke in. They held you under until Jason came by" Emily said, closing her eyes for a moment "The doctors said that Jason

came just in time, you swallowed a lot of water. He scared them off, Jason said it was someone in a black hoodie and they escaped out the back of the complex"

"So basically, someone tried to kill me and now they're still out there" Paige said looking to the other girls

"The police will find this person" Spencer reassured Paige

"Just like they've found the person who tried to run over Braxton?" Hanna asked

"Han" Emily warned, sending a stern look to Paige "Not now"

"It has to be connected" Paige said shaking her head

"The driver and what just happened?" Aria asked

"It has to be" Paige said "I mean unless Holly or Samara are back and they decided that they wanted to kill me…"

"Did anyone know that you were going to be there?" Emily asked

"Just you and Jason" Paige said "And unless you're a very good liar, or Jason can be in two places at once…I don't know who else would do it or who else knew I

would be there"

"Do you think Jason would have had anything to do with it?" Hanna asked "I mean they found a coat outside his house"

"No" Paige shook her head "I mean why would someone plan it and then run in to save me?"

"To look like the hero" Spencer said raising her eyebrows "No one would suspect him for anything else"

"No" Paige replied firmly "I'm telling you, he had nothing to do with it"

"And we're back to where we started" Aria said "We are good at that"

"Why was Jason there?" Hanna asked

"He left his wallet there" Emily explained "Paige, the police found your phone down the bottom of the pool. We'll get you a new one tomorrow"

"Yeah the police told me when they were talking to me. The person kicked my phone in the pool" Paige said "I remember that, so I couldn't call for help if I somehow

survived"

"I'm glad Jason came back when he did" Emily shuddered

"Yeah, me too" Paige replied "I have been trying to track down that black SUV for a few days now. It has to do something with that, I have to be close"

"Did you find anything?" Hanna asked

"Well I found out that Mona used to own an SUV and gave it to Toby" Paige said "Maybe to cover her tracks"

"Mona gave him a car?" Spencer asked

"I didn't want to have to tell you that" Paige replied

"So you think Mona did it?" Aria asked

"I don't know" Paige said shrugging "But maybe someone is noticing that I am looking. Maybe they were getting scared that I was going to find them"

"Whoever did this, really wants to keep this a secret" Aria said shaking her head "I mean, who would go to that length to protect their secret"

"Someone desperate" Spencer replied looking around the room "It's probably not safe for us all to be talking about this here. I mean they knew you were going to be

at the pool, what else could they know from us talking to each other?"

"Let's not get too paranoid" Emily said "We can't panic about who this person is. Once we start panicking, we will start pointing fingers and distracting ourselves even

more. We need to stick together and we need to take care of each other"

"But you're thinking the same thing I'm sure we're all thinking?" Hanna asked looking at the other girls "We've all seen this before. This isn't the first time that bad

things like this have happened in this town"

"What are you talking about?" Paige asked

"When Ali died" Emily sighed, placing her head in her hand for a moment before looking up at everyone again "You're right Han. When Ali died, bad things began to

happen. I mean we were almost framed for Ali's murder before Garret was charged"

"And turns out he was framed too" Spencer said "Very well"

"The bad things stopped happening when he was arrested" Spencer nodded

"This has to be all connected" Emily said "The SUV, the pool…Ali. This whole thing has to be connected"

"But you thought it was connected before, didn't you?" Paige asked

"Well we thought it did but we weren't sure" Emily shook her head "I guess we can be pretty sure now"

"What's the bet that this person has been around this whole time?" Spencer asked "They haven't gone anywhere"

"We need to be very careful what we say and do around people from now on" Emily said seriously "No one can know that we suspect that. If this person finds out,

who knows what they will try next. They've tried attempted murder twice now"

"I need to see Jason tomorrow" Paige said "Thank him for what he did"

"We will see him tomorrow" Emily nodded

"Are we going to your place or mine?" Paige asked

"I was thinking we should go to my parents' house" Emily suggested "I've called them already and told them what happened. Dad's home and I just think tonight we

should stay somewhere else than our houses"

"Probably a good idea" Spencer replied "I might go drop in on my family"

"You'll need to see Victoria tomorrow too" Emily said looking to Spencer "I'm sure she'll want to see you"

"So will dad and Melissa" Spencer nodded

"Can we go?" Paige asked "I don't want to be here anymore"

"Okay" Emily nodded as she stood from her chair "We should be able to get out of here a little easier now. Why don't you start walking to the car with Aria? I'll make

sure you're all signed out"

With a nod in agreement, Paige rose from her seat and began to walk towards the exit of the hospital with Aria as Emily watched.

"We need to find out who the hell this person is before they do something else like this again" Emily said looking to Spencer

"Hopefully this coat is going to give the police some more ideas as to who this person is" Spencer said "Then again, we can't really trust police here"

"Who can we trust then?" Hanna asked looking around the hospital

"Each other" Emily answered "She is going to be a wreck when she realised that someone just tried to kill her"

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you guys?" Spencer asked

"I need to talk to her alone" Emily replied shaking her head "I need to tell her about what I did tonight"

"She isn't going to be happy with you" Hanna said

"I know but I had a reason" Emily shook her head "And that reason has just grown since someone tried to kill my girlfriend"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow with her" Spencer replied "She'll be mad at first but she'll come around"

"I don't want to stress her out anymore than what she already is" Emily mused looking up to Paige and Aria

"She's a big girl" Hanna said "She can handle it"

Emily and Paige made their way through a few of the reporters that were still there; they didn't say a word. They stopped quickly at Paige's house to get some clothes

and then went straight to Emily's parents house. Pam hugged Paige very tightly when they arrived; Wayne guaranteed their safety while they were under his roof.

They went up to Emily's old room and Paige had a quick shower, now that she was allowed to.

"You feel any better?" Emily asked, moving to the edge of the bed as Paige walked back into the room

"A shower does wonders" Paige nodded "I just felt dirty, you know?"

"Yeah" Emily responded "The police just wanted to make sure they could get anything they could off of your hands"

"They were wearing black gloves" Paige said shaking her head, looking down at her nails "The police won't get anything from that"

"You saw the black gloves?" Emily asked

"That's something I won't forget" Paige replied with a shaky exhale "I won't forget the feeling that came over me when I thought I was going to die. When I thought I

wouldn't be able to see anyone I loved again"

"Come here" Emily said sympathetically as she held her hand out for the other girl

Paige silently walked over to Emily, letting her pull her body down next to her

"You're not going anywhere, okay?" Emily asked "You're right here and no one is going to touch you"

"What happens when this person starts going after Spencer?" Paige asked "What happens when they start going after you?"

"We're going to stop them" Emily said "You don't need to worry about us"

"How can I not?" Paige asked shaking her head "How can I not worry about everyone I care about after this happened?"

"You should be worried about yourself" Emily replied quietly "At a time like this, you should be worried about yourself"

"All I can think about is when they are going to try something on you" Paige said and she paused "And I don't think I will be able to restrain myself if they try to hurt

you and I find out who it is"

"We're going to get them Paige" Emily replied "I promise you"

"How do you know though?" Paige asked "I mean, you thought that you had them last time"

"We won't make the same mistakes" Emily said firmly "I will protect you, no matter what"

"This is about me protecting you Em" Paige responded

"We need to look after each other, okay?" Emily asked cupping Paige's cheek with her hands "And looking after ourselves"

"Someone tried to kill me tonight" Paige said slowly pulling away from Emily "And all I can think about is when the next bad thing is going to happen. All I can think

about is how long until I'm not there to push Braxton off the sidewalk or when Jason isn't there to pull me out of the pool"

"We're all just going to have to stick together now, more than before" Emily said

"We were practically living in each other's pockets anyway" Paige said

"This is all my fault" Emily said running a hand through her hair

"How is this your fault?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows

"Because I got you involved in this" Emily said "You came into my life and just by doing that, you became involved"

"None of this is your fault" Paige tried to reason with Emily

"I mean, you would have been better off not coming back here and not knowing me" Emily said "None of this would have happened"

"Nothing would be better off without you" Paige protested sharply "I am going to stick with you through this. It's you and I. I am a much better person for knowing you

and I am never going to let myself forget that"

Paige leaned her forehead against Emily's as she heard the other girl quiet sigh become a little more laboured by the end of it.

"You okay?" Paige asked

"Your manager has released a statement saying that there was an accident at the pool" Emily said looking Paige in the eyes "He said that you had tripped over and hit

your head before falling in the pool. Is that what you told him?"

"I told him what happened" Paige said "I have to be honest with him"

"What did he say?" Emily asked

"He wants me as far away from Rosewood as I can manage" Paige replied honestly, parting her face from Emily's "He wants me back in California"

"You should, you know" Emily mumbled "Even if just for your career"

"I told him no" Paige said "I told him no straight away. He and my publicist thought that story up so the media would back off. I'll have to face them properly sooner

than later but I would rather figure everything out first before I have to face them"

"I picked a bad night to not be with you" Emily said laughing sarcastically

"It could have happened any night" Paige shook her head "It's not your fault, stop thinking that. You had to work"

"I have to be honest with you" Emily said, pausing before she continued "I didn't stay at work late"

"Okay, so where did you go?" Paige asked furrowing her eyebrows

"I went to the police station" Emily said searching for any sign of anger in Paige's eyes "I might have snuck into the evidence locker while I was in there"

"Emily Fields" Paige said with wide eyes "You could get arrested for that"

"I won't" Emily said quickly "I got in and out with what I needed"

"You didn't steal anything did you?" Paige asked

"I took a photo" Emily said pulling out her phone and placing it in front of Paige "I took a photo of the coat that they found"

Paige paused, looking to the photo on Emily's phone. It was a coat; Paige thought it could pass off as a men's or women's coat. It was stained with dirt and other

things but it was distinctly a blue coat that had a red letter A.

"You snuck in and got a photo of this?" Paige asked

"The police weren't telling us anything so I had to step in and do something about it" Emily replied "At least we know what it looks like now. It might not mean much

but at least we are one step ahead of where we were before"

"You could have been caught" Paige shook her head

"But I wasn't" Emily replied "I shouldn't have gone though, you shouldn't have been left alone"

"It's okay Em, this isn't your fault for leaving me alone" Paige shook her head "I mean, I am a big girl. I can be by myself…I just couldn't have imagined that someone

would try and drown me tonight"

"Either could I" Emily said "I felt so sick when Jason called me and told me something had happened to you"

"I'm so lucky he came back" Paige said quietly "I could've been dead"

"But you're not" Emily said as she took Paige's face in her hands again "And that's all that matters. I'm not going to let anyone touch you again"

"I don't want you to break anymore laws though Em" Paige shook her head "You can't risk your job"

"I'd rather have everyone I care about around than my job" Emily shrugged before leaning into kiss Paige softly "I love you"

"I love you too" Paige nodded as they broke away from the kiss

"Do you think we could try and get some sleep?" Emily asked

"We can try" Paige nodded "I don't know how much we can get"

"As long as we try" Emily replied before stealing one more kiss from her girlfriend

* * *

**What did we think? Please review and let me know what you thought! I hope you liked it! Have a great weekend! **

**Dani**


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